Thehundreds of Cornwall (Cornish:Keverangow Kernow) were administrative divisions orShires (hundreds) into whichCornwall, the present dayadministrative county ofEngland, in theUnited Kingdom, was divided betweenc. 925 and 1894, when they were replaced with local governmentdistricts.
Some of the names of the hundreds ended with the suffixshire as in Pydarshire, East and West Wivelshire and Powdershire which were first recorded as names between 1184 and 1187.[1]
In theCornish language the wordkeverang (pl. keverangow) is the equivalent for English "hundred" and the Welshcantref. The word, in its plural form, appears in place names like Meankeverango (i.e. stone of the hundreds) in 1580 (now The Enys, north ofPrussia Cove and marking the southern end of the boundary between the hundreds ofPenwith andKerrier), and Assa Govranckowe 1580, Kyver Ankouc. 1720, also on the Penwith – Kerrier border nearScorrier. It is also found in the singular form at Buscaverran, just south ofCrowan churchtown and also on the Penwith-Kerrier border. The hundred ofTrigg is mentioned by name during the 7th century, as"Pagus Tricurius","land of three war hosts".[2]
The division ofWessex into hundreds is thought to date from the reign ofKing Athelstan, and in the Geld Inquest of 1083, only seven hundreds are found in Cornwall, identified by the names of the chief manors of each:Connerton,Winnianton,Pawton,Tybesta,Stratton, Fawton and Rillaton (corresponding to Penwith, Kerrier, Pydar, Powder, Trigg, West Wivel and East Wivel). At the time of theDomesday Survey of 1086, the internal order of the Cornishmanors in theExeter Domesday Book is in most cases based on the hundreds to which they belonged, although the hundred names are not used.[3][4][5][6]
All of the lordships of the Hundreds of Cornwall belonged, and still belong, to theDuchy of Cornwall, apart from Penwith which belonged to theArundells of Lanherne. The Arundells sold their lordship to the Hawkins family in 1813 and the Hawkinses went on to sell it to the Paynters in 1832. The Lordship of Penwith came with a great number of rights over the entire hundred. These included: rights to try certain cases oftrespass, trespass on the law,debt and detinue, to appoint a jailor for the detention of persons apprehended, to receive high-rent from the lords of the principalmanors and to claim theregalia of the navigable rivers and havens, the profits of theroyal gold and silver mines, and allwrecks,escheats,deodands,treasure trove,waifs,estrays, goods offelons anddroits of admiralty happening within the hundred.[7]
The Lann Pydar[8] joint benefice is a benefice combining those ofSt Ervan,St Eval,St Mawgan andSt Columb Major. It is in Pydar deanery of the Diocese of Truro.
The origins of the names have puzzled some earlier writers on the subject: Penwith is certainly the name of Land's End in Cornish (earliest occurrence in theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle for 997); Kerrier (sometimes Kirrier) is thought by Thomas to be derived from an obsolete name (ker hyr = long fort) of Castle Pencaire onTregonning Hill,Breage; Lesnewth denotes a place where a 'new court' has been established (the 'old court' having been at Henlis(-ton):Helstone, formerly Helston-in-Trigg); Powder has no certain derivation: 'pou' means 'territory' in Cornish; Pydar (or Pyder) has been variously explained: perhaps it derives from a Cornish word meaning 'a fourth part';Stratton was at the time of Domesday an important manor and 200 years earlier it is mentioned as 'Strætneat' (etym. dub.);Trigg is explained in the separate article; East and West (Wivelshire) must have originally had a Cornish name but it is not recorded. The original English name was Twofold-shire, because it was divided into the two parts, East and West. The names East Twofold-shire and West Twofold-shire were then misdivided, giving the name Wivelshire.[9]
By 1841 Cornwall was composed of tenhundreds as listed below here:
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| Major settlements (cities in italics) |
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