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]