Copthorne was a hundred of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England, an area above the level of the parishes and

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

s, where the local wise, wealthy and powerful met periodically in

Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom o ...

for strategic purposes. After the Norman Conquest the

lords of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seignor ...

took to annual hundred meetings and their status became eroded by royal-approved transactions of land, as meanwhile the

manorial court The manorial courts were the lowest courts of law in England during the feudal period. They had a civil jurisdiction limited both in subject matter and geography. They dealt with matters over which the lord of the manor had jurisdiction, primarily ...

s and moreover royal courts seized jurisdiction over the Hundred Courts. The name Copthorne may derive from a pollarded thorn tree at the place where the hundred met. The meeting point has been suggested to be marked by an earthwork and ancient hedge at the southern end of Woodcote Park, Epsom, close to Langley Vale. The earthwork is denoted as the ''Nutshambles'' on a map of Ashtead dating from 1638.

Scope

Copthorne comprised the

s of Ashtead, Burgh, Cuddington, Epsom, Ewell, Fetcham,

Headley Headley may refer to: Places * Headley, Basingstoke and Deane in the civil parish of Ashford Hill with Headley * Headley, East Hampshire ** Headley Grange, Hampshire * Headley, Surrey Other uses * Headley (surname) * Baron Headley, a title in t ...

, Leatherhead, Mickleham, Pachevesham (within Leatherhead parish), Tadworth, Thorncroft and Walton-on-the-Hill. It had two

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

s, areas of other parishes dominated by

s and sometimes churches within it: in Weybridge and Newdigate. In the '' Domesday Book'', the settlements of Ashtead, Fetcham and Mickleham were included in the Wallington (hundred); but the county historians cited by the Victoria County History of 1911 as having examined the Patent Rolls and similar state collections of deeds, royal letters and documents, such as

Owen Manning Owen Manning (1721–1801) was an English clergyman and antiquarian, known as a historian of Surrey. Life Son of Owen Manning of Orlingbury, Northamptonshire, he was born there on 11 August 1721, and received his education at Queens' College, Cam ...

and John Aubrey, agree that this was a mistake. In present terms Epsom, Leatherhead and Ewell are almost uniformly called towns: for example at the county level of local government when it considers service provision and population analysis — the first two were granted market town status in the Middle Ages. The Victoria County History, based on ecclesiastical records, states that these were its parishes: *Ashtead *Epsom *Leatherhead *Banstead *Ewell *Mickleham *Chessington *Fetcham *Cuddington *Headley *Walton on the Hill *Newdigate (part of)

Ownership and late transactions

Copthorne was a royal hundred (to the extent its overarching overlordship affected the

s and common land), and remained in the hands of the Crown, though James I of England leased it for 21 years to Thomas Jenkins in 1617. In a subsidy roll of the 14th century it was said to be worth £47 15s. 6¼d. and with

Effingham Hundred Effingham Hundred or the Hundred of Effingham was a hundred but often treated as a half-hundred with that of Copthorne (to the east and north-east) and was the smallest in Surrey, England. Geography It comprised the parishes of: * Effingham. * ...

the various land units within it were assessed in total for ship money at £136 16s. 4d. at the third such levy in 1636. ;Magistrates / District Judge (Magistrates Court) geographical division It was used as the Epsom Petty sessional division. ;Contribution to constituencies The area was an eastward projection of the West Surrey (UK Parliament constituency) an 1832-1885 dual-member (MP) area.Reform Act 1884
Schedule D: Counties to be divided With minor additions from Kingston, Effingham and Dorking Hundred it was then used for that of Epsom. Its northern bulk mirrors Epsom and Ewell the smaller modern successor.

Domesday survey

Copthorne appears in the Book as ''Copededorne''. Copthorne was a hundred (these are not in the Domesday Book's map of the county, which focuses on the main unit, manors).

References

External links

Vision of Britain
map of the boundaries {{coord, 51.30, -0.25, type:adm3rd_dim:20000_region:GB-SRY, display=title Hundreds of Surrey