The hundred of Bosmere: Introduction

A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 3. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1908.

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'The hundred of Bosmere: Introduction', in A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 3, (London, 1908) pp. 128. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hants/vol3/p128 [accessed 24 March 2024]

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.