TARRING HUNDRED

West tarring was listed in 1086 as part of Brightford hundred. (fn. 1) In the early 13th century the archbishops of Canterbury began to hold a hundred court there, (fn. 2) presumably for Loxfield hundred (in Pevensey rape), to which Tarring apparently belonged in 1248 (fn. 3) and 1275. In the latter year the archbishop apparently had return of writs and wreck of the sea there. (fn. 4) In 1360 (fn. 5) and 1524 (fn. 6) West Tarring was described as being in the archbishop's liberty in Bramber rape, which was perhaps identical with the bailiwick of Tarring for which courts were held by a bailiff in 1368. (fn. 7) In the early 16th century and perhaps earlier the liberty included Patching, but afterwards the two parishes were considered to be separate hundreds. (fn. 8) The name Tarring hundred is first found in 1642. (fn. 9) In the early 19th century the inhabitants of the parish were exempted from jury service, evidently as a relic of West Tarring's former status as an archbishop's liberty. (fn. 10)

Footnotes