Axstane Hundred

Last updated
Axstane
Former subdivision of England
Axstane.png Map showing the parishes of the hundred of Axstane
Area
 • Coordinates 51°23′44″N0°19′37″E / 51.395480°N 0.326980°E / 51.395480; 0.326980
History
 • OriginAnglo-Saxon period
 • Created10th century
 • Abolished1894
 • Succeeded by Dartford Rural District
Statusobsolete
GovernmentHundred
Subdivisions
 • TypeParishes (see text)
 • UnitsParishes

Axstane was a hundred in the county of Kent, England. [1] The Hundred of Axstane lay south-east of Dartford and Wilmington Hundred. It is called Achestan in the Domesday Book of 1086, [2] but by the reign of Edward I it was called Axstane.

Its name has been interpreted as referring to an oak-bearing stony land, or alternatively a reference to the personal name Acca. [3]

In the time of Edward I, the King and the Archbishop of Canterbury were then its lords paramount. In the 20th year of the reign of Edward III (1347, just before the Black Death) this hundred answered for a total of 14.725 knights' fees.

Alternative spellings: Achestan (as above), Axston, Axstone, Axtane, Axton [4]

The hundred included the parishes of

The Hundred of Dartford and Wilmington did not exist at the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, and the parishes of Dartford and Wilmington were accounted as part of Axstane in the Domesday Book of 1086. [5]

The importance of the hundred courts declined from the 17th century, and most of their powers were extinguished with the establishment of county courts in 1867. In 1894 the Hundred was succeeded by Dartford Rural District, which was then created out of the same parishes, with the addition of Wilmington and Crayford. [6]

Dartford Poor Law Union

Dartford Poor Law Union was formed on 19 May 1836, covering roughly the same area as the Hundred of Axstane. Its operation was overseen by an elected Board of Guardians, 24 in number, representing the following 21 constituent parishes (figures in brackets indicate numbers of Guardians if more than one): Ash, Bexley (2), Crayford (2), Darenth, Dartford (2), Eynsford, Erith, Farningham, Fawkham, Hartley, Horton Kirby, Kingsdown, Longfield, Lullingstone, Ridley, Southfleet, Stone, Sutton-at-Hone, Swanscombe, East Wickham, Wilmington.

The area was 34,139 acres (138 km2). Population in 1851: 9,869; Houses: 1,852. [4]

The population by parish was as follows: [7]

ParishArea
(acres)		Pop.
1851		Pop.
1891		Comments [8]
Ash3,074702619Merged into Ash-cum-Ridley 1 April 1955 [9]
Darenth2,2236542801
Eynsford3,5441,3231,841
Farningham2,739701879
Fawkham1,198249232
Hartley1,211227272
Horton Kirby2,8417471,551
Kingsdown2,813423412Renamed West Kingsdown 1 August 1948
Longfield605162498
Lullingstone15575164Abolished 1 April 1955. [10]
Ridley8349186Abolished 1 April 1955 [11]
Southfleet2,409657968
Stone3,0098293,773
Sutton at Hone3,6251,2903,847Swanley parish created 1 April 1955 [12]
Swanscombe2,1411,7636,577
TOTAL33,8239,86924,420

The Hundred of Axstane belonged to the Lathe of Sutton at Hone.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Axstane Hundred" . Retrieved 2012-09-19.
  2. ↑ The Domesday Book: Kent (Publisher: Phillimore & Co Ltd, 1 Nov 1983)The original text and translation
  3. ↑ Dartford Country - The Story Of The Hundred Of Axstane by Geoff Porteus, 1985, ISBN   9780860232032 (page 13)
  4. 1 2 Hundred of Axton in John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales,1870-72
  5. ↑ See The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 1, author:Edward Hasted, publ. 1797
  6. ↑ Dartford RD Kent through time | Local history overview for the Local Government District, Visionofbritain.org.uk.
  7. ↑ Victoria County History of Kent Vol 3, p. 367, publ.1932, ed William Page, ISBN   9780712906081
  8. ↑ See Dartford Registration District
  9. ↑ Incorporated in the parish of Ash cum Ridley and, to a minor extent, West Kingsdown
  10. ↑ Became part of the parish of Eynsford
  11. ↑ Became part of the parish of Ash cum Ridley
  12. ↑ Out of the parish of Sutton at Hone and minor parts of other parishes
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