Hayridge Hundred

Feniton is in Hayridge Hundred.

Hayridge hundred was originally known as Silverton Hundred – can’t find when it changed or why it was called Hayridge.

A Hundred is subdivision of a English Shire first noted in the 10^th century and survived as a unit of local government until the 19^th century. The origin of the name is Anglo Saxon for an area comprising of around 100 geld hides (this was a basic Anglo Saxon land unit for taxation prurposes). The origin is probably Germanic meaning 100 warriors or households. One hundred geld hides approximated to about 12000 acres or 18.75 square miles. The hundreds varied in size and the makeup of the parishes in each hundred continually changed. Each hundred had its own court which met regularly every four weeks until the 13^th century by which time local lords had taken them over and they gradually lost importance from the 16^th century onwards. The court was made up of Tythingmen from each of the parishes or Tything groups in the hundred. They had responsibility for crimes committed by members and jurisdiction over pleas of debt and trespass. In northern counties the equivalent to a hundred was known as a Wapentake – from the Norse word for the same unit.

Notes and details of the freeholders and attendees at Hayridge Hundred courts for the 17^th and 18^th centuries are held in the DRO – some have been transcribed by the Friends of the Record Office and are online. [Geoff]

Feniton History Group 31st Meeting

It was good to meet up again after our beak last month.

The research and displays we staged for the Art Fund event in the village were very well received, this also means we have done some very useful property and family research for our archives. The total amount raised was well above expectation at £1,137.00.

I would like to thank the members for all their hard work in staging the event. The display depicting the Prayer Book Rebellion by Jenny is a real master piece.

During the last few months I made some notes I thought the Group would find of interest and these were discussed:

Look into the Enclosure act in relation to Feniton.

We would benefit from having copies or the fiche for the Land Tax Assessments for the village, to get them photo copied at the DRO would be very expensive at .25p per sheet, so I will enquire if we can buy the set of fiche, we do have a £25 donation from the Art Fund and £7 from the Railway CD sold at the DRO Open Day. I hope this will cover the cost.

The Parish Record Transcripts are well on the way to completion, we need permission of the Rector and Churchwardens to put them on the Internet, either on our Blog or on the Devon GENUKI website, the preferred option.

We discussed spelling and how important it is to keep an open mind when looking for place and surnames.

The Hayridge Hundred and the Peasant's Revolt Poll Tax of 1381 was another point raised, there are documents relating to this may be worth a look, if they are readable!!

We discussed the origins of the chapel at Fenny Bridges, the one intact by the old A30 was probably built  for the Wesleyan Centenary in 1839, the early chapel was thought to be in the garden of the Mill. The bodies buried at the chapel were reinterred in the churchyard in 1949.

In the Baptism Register in mentions the Salter family lived "In the corner", Geoff checked this out in the DRO and it is though this phrase was used to differentiate between the various Salter families there at the time, 1549 to 1625. Thanks Geoff.

Other topics,    "Hull" the name for the box the priest used to shelter in to take a burial in the graveyard on a wet day!

 Bones found on Woodbury Common though to be Cornish Rebels, the bones showed the men were very tall, perhaps due to good nutrition from the fish diet, then we talked about how we make assumptions on things when the full evidence is missing! 

Clerks comments in their Registers.

Origins of the name of Chelsea Farm, something to ask about.

Memories of flooding in the past. bought on no doubt by the current wet weather and floods in the area. I hope I have remembered everything! It was a very full evening.