CANNINGTON HUNDRED
Cannington Hundred c.1840
CANNINGTON hundred occupies an area bordering the Bristol channel
between the Quantock ridge on the west and the river Parrett on the east.
It ranges between the flood plain of the lower Parrett, where flood prevention
schemes have checked the changes in boundaries that formerly resulted from
coastal erosion and river movement, and the higher ground of the Quantock scarp.
The close settlement pattern in the 11th century was of villages, hamlets, and isolated
farms, (fn. 1) some of the farms sited on outcrops of gravel in the Parrett basin. At least three
sites have not been identified. (fn. 2) The hundred interlocks with Williton hundred on the
west, a demonstration of the links between Cannington and Williton through ownership
of both by the West Saxon royal house from the time of King Alfred if not earlier. (fn. 3) A
detached part of Whitley hundred marked the presence at Durborough in Stogursey
of a Glastonbury abbey estate. (fn. 4) In the Middle Ages agriculture and cloth production
dominated the area and there was some commerce through Bridgwater's out-port
at Combwich. Cloth was produced until the later 17th century; agriculture
continued to be of prime importance in the mid 20th century, but forestry had
been introduced extensively on the Quantocks.
Richard I granted the hundred to Hugh de Neville 'the elder', (fn. 5) possibly Hugh de
Neville of Essex (d. 1234) who was referred to as lord of the hundred in the early 13th
century. (fn. 6) The hundred descended with Stogursey manor (fn. 7) until 1541 when Edward
Rogers of Cannington obtained a 21-year lease from the Crown. In 1545 the lease was
converted into a grant in tail male. (fn. 8) A grant of the hundred in fee tail was made to
Edward Courtenay, earl of Devon, in 1553 on the assumption that Rogers still held
under lease. (fn. 9) Courtenay died in 1556 and a grant in reversion was made to Thomas
Percy, earl of Northumberland, in 1557. (fn. 10) Rogers died in 1567 leaving the hundred
to his heir George. (fn. 11) The hundred then descended, apart from a gap following its sale
in 1652 to William Cox, with the manor of Cannington through the Rogers and Clifford
families. (fn. 12) Charles, Lord Clifford, still claimed ownership in 1871. (fn. 13)
In 1086 Cannington hundred comprised just over 45 hides of which 10½ hides were
free of geld. It included an estate belonging to Cannington church, William de Mohun's
estate at or near Shurton in Stogursey, William de Falaise's at Stogursey, and possibly
also Stockland and Spaxton. (fn. 14) In 1212 the hundred included Stogursey, Stockland
Bristol, and the lands of the Hostiaria or Usher family, (fn. 15) presumably those later identified
as at Huntstile in Chilton Trinity. (fn. 16) In 1242-3 Aisholt and Fiddington were part of the
hundred; Stogursey borough attended the eyre by its own jury. (fn. 17)
By 1284-5 the hundred comprised Aisholt, Cannington (together with Chilton Trivet,
Combwich, and Rodway tithings), Currypool tithing in Charlinch, Idstock tithing in
Chilton Trinity, Otterhampton, Spaxton, Stockland Bristol, Shurton and Wick tithings
in Stogursey, Adscombe and Plainsfield in Over Stowey, and Stringston. (fn. 18) In the earlier
14th century West Postridge in Aisholt, Charlinch, Fiddington with Bonson,
Farringdon in Stogursey, and Aley in Over Stowey were also mentioned as in the
hundred. (fn. 19) There were a few minor changes in the constituent parts of the hundred in
the 16th and 17th centuries. (fn. 20) In 1742 the parishes within the hundred were listed as
Aisholt, Cannington, Charlinch, Enmore, Fiddington, Otterhampton, Spaxton, Stockland, Stogursey, Over Stowey, and Stringston, together with the tithings of Alfoxton,
Bincombe, Goathurst, Honibere and Fairfield, and Idstock and Beere. Alfoxton,
Bincombe, and Honibere and Fairfield were otherwise recorded as in Williton and
Freemanors hundred, (fn. 21) and Goathurst (rendered as Goathouse) was perhaps included
in error for Lexworthy in Enmore parish and in Andersfield hundred. (fn. 22) In the later 18th
century and until 1832 Cannington hundred comprised for fiscal purposes Aisholt,
Cannington (including Chilton Trivet, Combwich, Orchard, Rodway Home, and Rodway
Quarter tithings), Currypool tithing in Charlinch, Idstock and Beere tithing in Chilton
Trinity (the rest of the parish being in Andersfield and North Petherton hundreds),
Fiddington (including Bonson tithing), Otterhampton, Spaxton parish (including North
Street, Pightley, and Tuxwell tithings but excluding Merridge in Andersfield hundred),
Stockland Bristol, Stogursey (including Cock and Idson, Monkton, Shurton, and Wick
tithings but excluding Durborough in Whitley hundred), Over Stowey (including
Adscombe, and Higher and Lower Plainsfield tithings), and Stringston (excluding Alfoxton
in Williton and Freemanors hundred). (fn. 23)
The sheriff's tourn for the hundred was held at Lypestone Hill, probably north of Clayhill
in Cannington, by the 1370s. (fn. 24) Robert, Lord Poynings (d. 1446), held two 'legal' courts
a year and a 'baronial' court every three weeks for the hundred. (fn. 25) Before 1652 the sheriff's
tourn for the three hundreds of Andersfield, Cannington, and North Petherton had been
held together at Lypestone Hill, but by that date was 'much discontinued'. (fn. 26) Charles, Lord
Clifford (d. 1831), held a court at Stolford in Stogursey concerning rights on the foreshore
in 1796-7. (fn. 27) At Christmas 1829 Charles, Lord Clifford, gave the usual hundred court
dinner and lord's feast. (fn. 28) The court met at the Anchor inn in Cannington in 1834. (fn. 29)
In 1301 the income from the hundred included payments at the Purification called
'horderzeld', at Hockday called 'borghryst' or 'burghryzt', and at Michaelmas
called 'austage'. (fn. 30) The lords claimed rights on the shore over seaweed (oare) and
fishing in the 15th and earlier 18th centuries. (fn. 31) In the later 15th and early 16th century
payments, known as 'borowryght' at Easter and as 'harderle' or 'harderhyll' at
Michaelmas, were due from some tithings in the hundred and some manors. Additional
income came from payments for watercourses and oare-burning licences. (fn. 32) Tithing silver
was payable from the hundred in 1652. (fn. 33) In 1828-9 the hundred court jury ordered the
levy of money from 'tithing acres' in the hundred. (fn. 34) The lords licensed a quarry in
1770-1 and fined a tenant in the same year for taking a cable found on the shore. (fn. 35)
A serjeant or bailiff of the hundred was recorded in 1225, (fn. 36) a bailiff in 1531, (fn. 37) a
beadle c. 1608, (fn. 38) constables in the 17th century, (fn. 39) and a salaried bailiff in 1829. (fn. 40)
There was a hundred pound in 1771-2. (fn. 41)