The Hundred of Williton and Freemanners (also written as Freemanors) is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the

ceremonial county Ceremonial counties, formally known as ''counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies'', are areas of England to which lord-lieutenant, lord-lieutenants are appointed. A lord-lieutenant is the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarch's repres ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England, dating from before 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 ...

during the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

era although exact dates are unknown. Each hundred had a 'fyrd', which acted as the local defence force and a court which was responsible for the maintenance of the

frankpledge Frankpledge was a system of joint suretyship common in England throughout the Early Middle Ages and High Middle Ages. The essential characteristic was the compulsory sharing of responsibility among persons connected in tithings. This unit, un ...

system. They also formed a unit for the collection of taxes. The role of the hundred court was described in the Dooms (laws) of King Edgar. The name of the hundred was normally that of its meeting-place. The Hundred of Williton and Freemanners consisted of

Watchet Watchet is a harbour town, civil parish and electoral ward in the county of Somerset, England, with a population in 2011 of 3,785. It is situated west of Bridgwater, north-west of Taunton, and east of Minehead. The town lies at the mouth of ...

the ancient parishes of:

Bicknoller Bicknoller is a village and civil parish on the western slopes of the Quantock Hills in the English county of Somerset. The parish includes the hamlets of Culverhays, Halsway, Newton and Woolston. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population ...

, Brompton Ralph,

Brompton Regis Brompton Regis (formerly known as Kingsbrompton) is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England about north-east of Dulverton. It is situated on the River Pulham in the Brendon Hills within the Exmoor National Park, close to Wimbleball L ...

, Brushford, Chipstable, Clatworthy,

Old Cleeve Old Cleeve is a village south east of Minehead in Somerset, England, and also a civil parish. The civil parish of Old Cleeve covers an area of and includes the villages of Old Cleeve, Roadwater and Washford as well as hamlets such as Bilbro ...

Crowcombe Crowcombe is a village and civil parish under the Quantock Hills in Somerset, England, southeast of Watchet, and from Taunton. The village has a population of 489. The parish covers the hamlets of Crowcombe Heathfield, Flaxpool, Halsway, La ...

, St Decuman, Dodington,

Dulverton Dulverton is a town and civil parish in west Somerset, England, near the border with Devon. The town had a population of 1,408 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the hamlets of Battleton and Ashwick which is located approximately north w ...

, Elworthy, Exmoor Forest, Exton, Halse, Hawkridge,

Huish Champflower Huish Champflower is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, three miles north-west of Wiveliscombe and ten miles north of Wellington. It has a population of 301 (Census 2011). History The name comes from the ''hiwisc'', the Saxon fo ...

, Kilton,

Kilve Kilve is a village in Somerset, England, within the Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the first AONB to be established, in 1957. It lies on the A39 road, A39 almost exactly equidistant from Bridgwater to the east and Minehead t ...

Lilstock Lilstock is a hamlet in the civil parish of Stringston in Somerset, England. It is north-west of Bridgwater, and north-east of Williton. It is on the coast of Bridgwater Bay on the Bristol Channel, near the Hinkley Point nuclear power statio ...

Monksilver Monksilver is a village west of the town of Williton in Somerset, England, on the eastern flank of the Brendon Hills and the border of the Exmoor National Park. The Coleridge Way footpath passes through the village. History The name of the vil ...

, Nettlecombe,

East Quantoxhead East Quantoxhead is a village, from West Quantoxhead, east of Williton, and west of Bridgwater, within the Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Somerset, England. History Above the village at Black Ball Camp are an Iron Age ...

, West Quantoxhead, Raddington,

Sampford Brett Sampford Brett is a village and civil parish situated at the south-western edge of the Quantock Hills, Somerset, England, less than south of Williton, just off the A358 road to Taunton. Geography It lies in a shallow valley cut by the Sampford ...

, Skilgate,

Stogumber Stogumber () is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the eastern flank of the Brendon Hills. Besides Stogumber village itself, the parish includes the hamlets of Ashbeer, Capton, Escott, Higher Vexford, Kingswood, Lower Vellow, Lo ...

Nether Stowey Nether Stowey is a large village in Somerset, South West England. It sits in the foothills of the Quantock Hills (England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), just below Over Stowey. The parish of Nether Stowey covers approximately 4&nbs ...

, Upton,

Winsford Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is on the River Weaver, south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining indus ...

, and

Withypool Withypool (formerly Widepolle, Widipol, Withypoole) is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Withypool and Hawkridge, in the Somerset (district), Somerset district, in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, near the ...

e it also has the hands of Doniford a settlement in Watchet. It covered an area of . At the time of 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 ...

Williton and Dulverton were separate Hundreds. These were brought together with Winsford and Old Cleeve. The importance of the hundred courts declined from the seventeenth century. By the 19th century several different single-purpose subdivisions of counties, such as

poor law union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

sanitary district Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

s, and

highway district Highway districts were areas in England and Wales united for the maintenance and repair of highways. They were first formed in 1862 and consisted of groupings of civil parishes in rural areas. They were abolished in 1894 when their powers and dutie ...

s sprang up, filling the administrative role previously played by parishes and hundreds. Although the Hundreds have never been formally abolished, their functions ended with the establishment of county courts in 1867 and the introduction of

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

by the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

References

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