| Wells Forum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Area | |
| 30,000 acres (12,000 ha) | |
| History | |
| • Created | unknown |
| Status | Hundred |
| Subdivisions | |
| • Type | Parishes |
| • Units | Binegar, Cranmore West, Dinder, Evercreech, Litton, Priddy, Westbury and Wookey |
The Hundred of Wells Forum is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, dating from the Anglo-Saxon era before the Norman conquest. Each hundred had a fyrd which acted as the local defence force, and a court which was responsible for the maintenance of the frankpledge system. [1] The hundred also formed a unit for the collection of taxes. [2] The role of the hundred court was described in the Dooms (laws) of King Edgar. The name of the hundred was normally that of its meeting-place. [3]
The ceremonial counties, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England, are areas of England to which a Lord Lieutenant is appointed. Legally the areas in England, as well as in Wales and Scotland, are defined by the Lieutenancies Act 1997 as counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies in Great Britain, in contrast to the areas used for local government. They are also informally known as geographic counties, as often representing more permanent features of English geography, and to distinguish them from counties of England which have a present-day administrative function.
Somerset is a county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the south-west. It is bounded to the north and west by the Severn Estuary and the Bristol Channel, its coastline facing southeastern Wales. Its traditional border with Gloucestershire is the River Avon. Somerset's county town is Taunton.
The Norman Conquest of England was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French soldiers led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqueror.
The name Wells Forum was derived from the city of Wells, which lies within its limits, to which was added the word Forum, referring to Wells' market place. These were generally called Fora Venalia in Roman times, and this term added to a proper name denotes a market or borough town (e.g. Blandford Forum). The hundred of Wells Forum encompassed the ancient Forest of Mendip, which occupied the northern part; and extended to the south into the lowlands of East Sedgemoor. [4]
Wells is a cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills. Although the population recorded in the 2011 census was only 10,536, and with a built-up area of just 3.245 square kilometres, Wells has had city status since medieval times, because of the presence of Wells Cathedral. Often described as England's smallest city, it is second only to the City of London in area and population, though not part of a larger urban agglomeration.
Blandford Forum, commonly Blandford, is a market town in the North Dorset district of Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about 13 mi (21 km) northwest of Poole. It is the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District Council.
Its neighbouring hundreds were Chewton to the north; Whitstone to the east; Glaston Twelve-hides to the south; and Bempstone and Winterstoke to the west. Two small rivers had their source within the hundred: the Wells and the Axe. [4]
The River Axe is a river in South West England. The river is formed by water entering swallets in the limestone and rises from the ground at Wookey Hole Caves in the Mendip Hills in Somerset, and runs through a V-shaped valley. The geology of the area is limestone and the water reaches Wookey Hole in a series of underground channels that have eroded through the soluble limestone. The river mouth is in Weston Bay on the Bristol Channel.
The hundred covered around 30,000 acres (12,000 ha) and included the parishes of Binegar, Cranmore West, Dinder, Evercreech, Litton, Priddy, Westbury and Wookey. [5]
Binegar is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is located on the A37, 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Wells, between Shepton Mallet and Chilcompton. Its population in 2011 was 313. Binegar and Gurney Slade on the opposite side of the A37 are effectively a single village and share a sign on the main road. In Gurney Slade, the quarry and houses on the north side of Tape Lane are in Binegar parish whilst the south side is in Ashwick parish. In Binegar, some houses on the south side of Station Road are in Ashwick parish and some on the north side of the village are in Emborough parish.
Cranmore is a village and civil parish east of Shepton Mallet, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Waterlip, East Cranmore and Dean where Dean farmhouse dates from the 17th century, as does The Old Smithy, just off the A361 which was originally two residential dwellings before being finally "knocked through" to just one.
Dinder is a small village 2½ miles west of Shepton Mallet, and 2 miles east of Wells in Somerset. It falls within the civil parish of St Cuthbert Out and the Mendip district.
Although the Hundred was never formally abolished, its functions ended with the establishment of county courts in 1867 [6] and the introduction of districts by the Local Government Act 1894. [7]
A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of county courts held by the high sheriff of each county.
The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the structure of local government in England is not uniform, there are currently four principal types of district-level subdivision. There are a total of 317 districts made up of 36 metropolitan boroughs, 32 London boroughs, 192 non-metropolitan districts, and 55 unitary authorities, as well as the City of London and the Isles of Scilly which are also districts, but do not correspond to any of these categories. Some districts are styled as boroughs, cities, or royal boroughs; these are purely honorific titles, and do not alter the status of the district. All boroughs and cities, and a few districts, are led by a mayor who in most cases is a ceremonial figure elected by the district council, but—after local government reform—is occasionally a directly elected mayor who makes most of the policy decisions instead of the council.
The Local Government Act 1894 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level under the Local Government Act 1888. The 1894 legislation introduced elected councils at district and parish level.
