THE HUNDRED OF BOSMERE
CONTAINING THE PARISHES OF
|
| HAYLING ISLAND, including |
WARBLINGTON with Emsworth Chapelry (fn. 1) |
| NORTH AND SOUTH HAYLING |
|
In the Domesday Survey the hundred of Bosmere, or Boseburg as it is
there called, (fn. 2) included Hayling, as yet undivided, Brockhampton, a tithing
of Havant, Havant itself, which does not
appear to have been quit of suit at the
hundred court till later, and Newtimber,
a tithing of Warblington. Warblington
is assessed under Westbourne in Sussex,
but was most probably included in Bosmere Hundred. The total assessment before
the Conquest was fifty-seven hides and a
half, which by 1086 had decreased to
thirty-four. Havant had become a separate
liberty before the thirteenth century, (fn. 3) and
the manor of Hayling in South Hayling
became quit of suit at the hundred court
under a grant from Queen Mary to Henry
earl of Arundel, in 1553. (fn. 4) The hundred
was thus diminished to one parish, viz.
Warblington, and it seems probable that,
owing to its small extent, the sheriff held
one tourn for the hundreds of Portsdown
and Bosmere. (fn. 5) This assumption is strengthened by the fact that in 1465 the tithingman of Farlington ' in the
hundreds of Portsdown and Bosmere ' made presentment at the sheriff's
tourn at ' Grenefeld' of the obstruction of a footpath from Hambledon to
Havant. (fn. 6) Bosmere Hundred was in the hands of the king, and appears to
have been farmed occasionally. (fn. 7)
INDEX MAP to the HUNDRED of BOSMERE
Footnotes
| 1 |
The extent of the hundred as given in the Population Return of 1831. |
| 2 |
Boseburgh is the usual form of the name before the fifteenth century. |
| 3 |
Chart. R. 12 Edw. I, m. 5 ; Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 771. |
| 4 |
Pat. I Mary, pt. ii, m. 5. Hence, in 1587, separate certificates of musters were returned for ' the hundreds
of Havant, Bosmere, and Hayling.' Cal. S.P. Dom. 1581–90, p. 438. |
| 5 |
On the other hand the sheriff accounted separately for the two hundreds (Mem. R. Excheq. L.T.R.
Mich. 47 Edw. III, ' Recorda,' m. 16). It is also worthy of notice that the profits of Bosmere at one time
exceeded those of Portsdown, the one being 59s. 8d. and the other 30s. 3d. |
| 6 |
Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 6568. |
| 7 |
Inq. a.q.d. file 2, No. 31, where the jurors decide that it would not be to the king's damage to farm
the hundreds of Titchfield, Portsdown, and Bosmere. |