Seisdon is a rural village in the parish of Trysull and Seisdon, Staffordshire approximately six miles west of

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

and the name of one of the five hundreds of Staffordshire. The population recorded at the 2011 census does not distinguish this hamlet from the rest of the parish, which had a population of 1,150.

Etymology

The name appears to mean "hill of the Saxons", deriving from the Anglo-Saxon words ''Seis'' meaning Saxon and ''Dun'' meaning hill. The first element may alternatively be a personal name.The English Hundred Names, by Olof Anderson, Lund (Sweden), 1934. Page 145

Location and Sites

Seisdon is a hamlet within the parish of Trysull and Seisdon (formerly named Trysull, only), lying one mile north-west of the village of Trysull, near the border with Shropshire. There is a narrow bridge of several arches over the river Smestow,History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire by William White, pub. Sheffield, 1834 (section on Trysull Parish) which is of 18th-century origin.Listed Buildings web site britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101277100-bridge-over-smestow-brook-trysull-and-seisdon#.W9sy3pP7ShM retrieved Nov 2018 On the county boundary there is a high position which formed an ancient entrenchment named Abbot's Wood (Apewood) Castle. Seisdon Hall is a grade II Listed Building Historic England web site historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1232129 retrieved Nov 2018 dating from the 17th century and greatly extended around 1840-1850 Parish council web site www.trysullandseisdon.co.uk retrieved Nov 2018 by the Aston-Pudset family. It was previously known as Green Farm.

History

The hamlet is remarkable for giving the name to the Hundred, for which no adequate authority can now be adduced. However, a large number of Hundred names refer to hills or mounds. It seems likely that such sites were chosen as being remote, and where interference was most easily avoided. Place-name evidence suggests a fairly early Anglo-Saxon origin for the name. Certainly the village of Seisdon was of sufficient importance prior to the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

of 1066 to have its owners and value recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086. Having been held by four English free men before the conquest, it came into the hands of William Fitz-Ansculf who held 600 acres in Seisdon and also land in Trysull and other parts of the parish. Almost all of its residents were originally employed in the

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

industry.

Seisdon Hundred

Each hundred was formed to support a military unit. Seisdon Hundred contains the smallest area of the five hundreds of Staffordshire, but it has a relatively high population density and agricultural productivity. It formed the south-western portion of the county, bounded on the west by Shropshire, on the south by Worcestershire, on the east by Offlow Hundred, and on the north by Cuttleston Hundred. The old Forest of Brewood formed the boundary of Seisdon and Cuttleston. Seisdon Hundred was divided into North and South Divisions. each with their own High Constable. The Hundred contained Wolverhampton, the largest town of the county, and many populous villages, which were constituted into 18 parishes, part of two others and two extra parochial areas. Wolverhampton parish contained several townships some of which were in Offlow Hundred. The parishes in 1834 were as follows: The Hundred presented a great diversity of soil and scenery. It was rich in coal, ironstone, lime, and freestone, and renowned for its extensive mines and iron works, and for the manufacture of a great variety of articles in iron, steel, and other metals.History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire by William White, pub. Sheffield, 1834 There was a Seisdon Rural District from 1894 to 1974.

Famous people

* Mark Speight (born 1965 in Seisdon – 2008), Television presenter and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Staffordshire South Staffordshire District