A BACKGROUND TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT Contents Introduction 1 Pre-Norman 1 The Domesday Book 2 1066 to late Middle Ages 4 The Ancient Parish 6 Civil Administration 6 Magistrates 6 Poor Laws 7 Vagrancy Laws 7 Alehouse Act 8 Hundred Courts 8 Public Health Acts 8 Sanitary Districts and Urban District 8 History of voting 10 Addenda – later additions starting on page 11 Introduction Around the time of the Norman Conquest, much of our area of interest, the townships of Hobendred, Pentre Hodre, Menutton, Hobarris, Purlogue and Treverward (and Obley) was waste. In fact the only townships mentioned in then Domesday book were Lurkenhope, assumed to be Hobendred, Menutton beneath Purlogue and Obley (Obelie); the rest were presumably waste or foresta (see below for explanation ). Knighton was also waste so it is assumed that jurisdiction over our area lay in Clun. It is therefore of interest to say something about Clun as an administrative centre. The main sources of information are various Wikipedia articles; Discovering Parish Boundaries by Angus Winchester (Shire Classics); Domesday Book – Shropshire, edited by Frank and Caroline Thorn (Phillimore). Victoria County Histories, History of Clun by F E S Baker, Clun Shropshire - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868 and a paper entitled a ‘Concise account of ancient documents relating to the Honor Forest and Borough of Clun’ by Thomas Salt, 1858. Pre-Norman The entire area of modern Shropshire was included within the territory of the Celtic Cornovii tribe, whose capital was the Wrekin Hill fort. Territory of the Cornovii (Wikipedia) 1 After Roman military expansion into the area in 47, the tribal territory was reorganised as a Roman Civitas and the capital was relocated to Viroconium. Following the collapse of the Romano-British administration, the Cornovii territory became part of the Kingdom of Powys , within which the Sub-Kingdom of Pengwerne became centered on Shrewsbury. The part of Powys which is now Shropshire was annexed to the Saxon Kingdom of Mercia by King Offa. In 765 he constructed Watt's Dyke to defend his territory against the Welsh, and in 779, having pushed across the River Severn, drove the Welsh King of Powys from Shrewsbury. He secured his conquests by a second defensive earthwork known as Offa's Dyke. Rhwng Gwy a Hafren (English: Between Wye and Severn), also known as Cynllibbwg or Calcebuef, was a region of medieval Wales, located in the Welsh Marches between Powys to the north and Brycheiniopg to the south. It was bounded by the rivers Wye ( Gwy ) and Severn ( Hafren ), hence its name. It covered approximately the same territory as Radnorshire, now part of the county of Powys, but also extending into Shropshire. The region first came into its own in the 9th or 10th centuries, when it was ruled by leaders who operated independently of the surrounding Welsh kingdoms and made up the central part of what later became known as the Welsh Marches. Prior to the Norman invasion, the Danes took parts of it from the Saxons, and after 1066 was a frequent site of struggle between the Welsh and Normans. That might well have been the end of the story if it had not been for the collapse of Norman authority in Wales brought about by the death of King Henry I December 1135 and the descent into protracted anarchy in England as Stephen and Matilda battled it out for the throne. According to historian P M Remfrey, while the English were pre-occupied with their own problems, Rhwng Gwy a Hafren experienced a brief revival in the latter part of the 12 th Century when Cadwallon ap Madog Rex de Delvain, a descendant of the old kings of Cynllibiwg fomented a rebellion and by 1148 had expelled the Mortimers and their royalist allies from much of the land between the Wye and Severn. Had Roger Mortimer not managed to ambush and kill Cadwallon in 1179, the course of history in these parts might have been very different. 2 Rhwng Gwy a Hafren Mercia was mapped out into shires in the 10th century after its recovery from the Danes by Edward the Elder. The first mention of 'Shropshire' in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle occurs in 1006, when the King crossed the Thames and wintered there. The historic counties of England were created in late Saxon times. The origin of the name "Shropshire" is the Old English "Scrobbesbyrigsc īr" (literally Shrewsburyshire ), perhaps taking its name from Richard Scrob (or FitzScrob or Scrope), the builder of Richard’s Castle. However, the Normans who ruled England after 1066 found both "Scrobbesbyrig" and "Scrobbesbyrigscir" difficult to pronounce so they softened them to "Salopesberia" and "Salopescira". Salop is the abbreviation of these . The county was an artificial construct, within the territories of two distinct Anglo-Saxon tribes, the Wroecensætans in the north and the Magosætans in South Shropshire and North Herefordshire. In the 10 th century, counties were divided into hundreds as judicial units with hundred courts which met every four weeks or so. The hundreds were also a taxation unit. It is supposed that they originated as a territory assessed at 100 hides, a hide being the unit on which taxes and other obligations were assessed: it was the amount of land needed to support a peasant family, generally 40-120 acres: In late Saxon times Shropshire contained about hides, which included Rinlow and Leintwardine, covering our area of interest Below the hundreds were the parish and the vill, the latter name being synonymous with township. Unlike the south of England, the midland and the northern English parishes contained many vills or townships: the township was the basic unit of local administration. All parishes were ecclesiastical as civil parishes did not appear until the late 19 th century. Ancient parishes go back to the Anglo-Saxon times and were either minster - or mother – churches or field churches. The minster churches covered a larger area and were served by several clergy. The support of priests became obligatory under the laws of Edmund (937-46) and Edgar (970) and these tenth 3 century tithe laws decided the boundaries between parishes. The minster churches ere generally royal or Episcopal foundations an often connected with a local estate. *** Wild Edric was an Anglo-Saxon thane who lived in Saxon times and after the conquest. He held large tracts of land in Shropshire including around Clun, so our area of interest was governed by him at the time of the conquest in 1066.The fact that large areas south of Clun were waste is due to wars with the Welsh from the west also and the Danes from the east and no doubt later when Edric took on the Normans. In the mid-11th century the major Welsh figure was Gruffyd ap Llwelyn ap Seisyll, ruler of Powys who was responsible for much of the devastation. Wales was not conquered until the reign of Edward I ((1272-1307). The Domesday Book Nineteen years after the Norman Conquest, King William at Gloucester ‘had deep speech with his councillors … and sent men all over England to each shire … to find out … what or how much each landholder held … in land and livestock and what it was worth.’ The whole operation was completed inside 12 months and gives a picture of Shropshire as it was just before and after the conquest. Ch 4 Land of Earl Roger Earl Roger from Normandy was related to William the Conqueror by marriage and was a Palatine earl and the king within Shropshire. Holding of Picot (Robert de Say) under Earl Roger 8 Clun. Edric held it; he held it as a free man. 15 hides which pay tax. Land for 60 ploughs. In lordship 2; 5 slaves; 10 villagers and 4 smallholders with 5 ploughs, a mill which serves the court; 4 Welshmen pay 2s 4d. Of this land Walter holds 2 hides from Picot; Picot, a man-at-arms, 3 hides; Gislold 2 hides. They have 3 ploughs and 2 slaves; 2 ploughmen 8 villagers, 4 smallholders and 2 Welshmen with 2 ploughs Between them, 2 riders pay 2 cattle in dues. Value of the whole manor before 1066 £25; later £3; now, of what Picot has £6 5s; of what the men-at-arms have £4 less 5s. 11 Obley* Almund held it. 2 hides. These lands were and are waste. 22 Menutton. Edric held it. 1 hide which pays tax. Land for 2 ploughs. It was and is waste. I hedged enclosure. 23 Lurkenhope. Edric held it. 2 hides and 1 virgate which pays tax (about 30 acres). Land for 6 ploughs. It was and is waste. 2 hedged enclosures. Notes from the DB, Thorn edition: Rinlow Hundred with part of Leintwardine Hundred became Purslow Hundred in Norman times. The name Rinlow is derived from names containing hlaw meaning burial ground or barrow. Clun. Now a parish which was in Rinlow hundred, later in Purslow. It was caput of Picot, then FitzAlan’s, barony of Clun, who holds the town from the King. Richard Earl of Arundel holds Clun castle and manor and receives rents from places which are members of the barony. The church of Clun went to 4 Wenlock Priory. (for general information see William Eyton’s Antiquities of Shropshire) Obley, now in Clunbury parish, was part of the barony and manor of Clun. Menutton, or Munetone in DB, was in Leintwardine hundred. In 1272 it was Moneton’ subtus Porteloke (Purlogue) in 1272 Lurkenhope is given as Edretehope in Leintwardine Hundred, and identified in VCH i p.336 possibly with Hopebendred, a township which includes Chapel Lawn and the Pentre.