Hundreds of Cheshire
Encyclopedia
The Hundreds of Cheshire, as with other Hundreds in England were the geographic divisions of Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

 for administrative, military and judicial purposes. They were introduced in Cheshire some time before the Norman conquest. Later on, both the number and names of the hundreds changed by processes of land being lost from Cheshire, and merging or amalgamation of remaining hundreds.

The hundreds at the time of the Domesday Survey

Cheshire, in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 was recorded as a larger county than it is today. There is a small disagreement in published sources about where the northern boundary of Cheshire lay, and some parts of the border areas with Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 were disputed with the predecessors of Wales. One source states that the northern border was the River Ribble
River Ribble
The River Ribble is a river that runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire, in northern England. The river's drainage basin also includes parts of Greater Manchester around Wigan.-Geography:...

, resulting in large parts of what was to become Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

 being at that time part of Cheshire. This area is included as "Inter Ripam et Mersam" in the Domesday Book. However, more recent sources confirm that the actual boundary at that time was the River Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....

.

Twelve hundreds

The land south of the River Mersey was made up of twelve hundred
Hundred (division)
A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...

s: Atiscross, Bochelau, Chester, Dudestan, Exestan, Hamestan, Middlewich, Riseton, Roelau, Tunendune, Warmundestrou and Wilaveston, with the hundreds of Atiscross and Exestan being disputed with the Kingdom of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...

. (There are slight variations between various sources in the spellings of these names.) The hundreds in between the Mersey and the Ribble (Inter Ripam et Mersam) were: West Derby
West Derby (hundred)
The hundred of West Derby was an ancient division of the historic county of Lancashire, in northern England. It was sometimes known as West Derbyshire, the name alluding to its judicial centre being the township of West Derby .It covered the southwest of Lancashire, containing the ancient...

 ("Derbei"), Newton ("Neweton"), Warrington ("Walingtune"), Blackburn ("Blacheburn") and Leyland
Leyland (hundred)
The Leyland hundred, or Leylandshire, was a hundred of the English county of Lancashire. It covered the parishes of Brindle, Chorley, Croston, Eccleston, Hoole, Leyland, Penwortham, Rufford, Standish and Tarleton....

 ("Lailand").

This uncertain nature of the northern border lasted until 1182, when the land north of the Mersey became administered as part of the new county of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

. Later, the hundreds of Atiscross and Exestan became firmly part of Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, as did part of the Dudestan hundred.

Emergence of the later hundreds

Over the years the remaining ten hundreds consolidated to just seven with changed names: Broxton
Broxton
Broxton is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village is 11 miles south of Chester, and only 10 miles east of Wrexham in Wales. The civil parish also contains the small settlements of Barnhill,...

, Bucklow
Bucklow
Bucklow may refer to:*Bucklow , formerly a division of Cheshire, England*Bucklow Rural District, formerly a local government district in Cheshire*Bucklow , formerly a constituency in Cheshire...

, Eddisbury
Eddisbury
Eddisbury could be*the Eddisbury in Cheshire, England*the ancient Eddisbury in Cheshire*Eddisbury hill fort in Cheshire*Baron Eddisbury, a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom...

, Macclesfield
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East, the county palatine of Chester, also known as the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The population of the Macclesfield urban sub-area at the time of the 2001 census was 50,688...

, Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...

, Northwich
Northwich
Northwich is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane...

 and Wirral
Wirral
Wirral may refer to:* Wirral Peninsula, a peninsula in the northwest of England, between the rivers Dee and Mersey* Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, occupying the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula...

. The date at which this process happened is not clear: These newer names are reported to be all in use by 1259 to 1260. The same source reports research that has found Macclesfield Hundred to be named in 1242 and Eddisbury Hundred by the late 12th century. Chester lost its hundred status, but was subsequently given the status of "county of itself" and was known as the City and County of Chester.

Broxton

This hundred was formed from the old Dudestan hundred. The southern part of Dudestan was, transferred to Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 where it was known as Maelor Saesneg, and (later still) "Flintshire
Flintshire
Flintshire is a county in north-east Wales. It borders Denbighshire, Wrexham and the English county of Cheshire. It is named after the historic county of Flintshire, which had notably different borders...

 Detached" (see Ancient county of Flintshire
Flintshire (historic)
Flintshire , also known as the County of Flint, is one of thirteen historic counties, a vice-county and a former administrative county, which mostly lies on the north east coast of Wales....

.)

Bucklow

Bucklow was known to have been in existence at least as early as 1260. It was formed from the earlier Domesday hundreds of Bochelau and Tunendune.

Macclesfield

Macclesfield was known to have been in existence at least as early as 1242. It was formed to a great extent from the earlier Domesday hundred of Hamestan.

Wirral

Wirral was formed from the earlier Domesday hundred of Wilaveston.
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