Hurstingstone (hundred)

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Hurstingstone was a hundred of Huntingdonshire,[1][2] England that was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.[3][4]

Hundreds of Huntingdonshire in 1830

According to Victoria County History, the derivation of the name of Hurstingstone is not clear; one possibility is that Hurstingstone comes from the name of the tribe of Hirstina (or Hyrstingas) who had settled in the area.[1] There was a stone called the Hursting Stone on Hustingstone Hill which is the highest point on the road between St Ives and Old Hurst; it was here that the area's moot was held until it was moved to Broughton in the 14th century.[1] There was a gallows on Hurstingstone Hill.[1] The Hundred was given by Henry I to the abbot and convent of Ramsey c. 1155 in whose possession it remained until the dissolution of the monastery in 1539.[1] By 1654 the hundred was sold to Edward Montagu and has been in the family of the Earls of Sandwich ever since.[1]

The Hursting Stone resembles the shape of a chair and it is also known as the Abbot's Chair. It is possible that the Hursting Stone was used as a plinth for a stone cross around the 12th century when such crosses were commonly erected at boundaries.[1] The stone has been moved and is now at the Norris Museum in St Ives.

In 1870–72, Hurstingstone was described like this:

HURSTINGSTONE, a hundred in Huntingdon; named from an ancient stone near Old Hurst; and containing Old Hurst parish, twenty-two other parishes, and part of another. Acres, 72, 670. Pop. in 1851, 20, 946; in 1861, 19, 961. Houses, 4, 323.

— John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales[5]

Hurstingstone was one of four Hundreds of Huntingdonshire[2] and covered the eastern region of the county. The other Hundreds were Norman Cross, Leightonstone and Toseland.[2]

In the Domesday Book of 1086 there were eighteen places listed in the Hundred of Hurstingstone. They were: Abbotts Ripton, Bluntisham, Botuluesbrige, Broughton, Colne, Great Stukeley, Hartford, Holywell, Houghton, Huntingdon, Little Stukeley, Ramsey, St Ives, Somersham, Upwood, Warboys, Wistow and Wyton.[3]

The area covered by the hundred of Hurstingstone was little changed through to 1932 although a number of new parishes had been formed and Huntingdon was by then a separate administrative area. The parishes in Hurstingstone in 1932 were: Abbotts Ripton, Bluntisham, Broughton, Bury, Colne, Earith, Great Raveley, Great Stukeley, Hartford, Holywell with Needingworth, Houghton, Kings Ripton, Little Raveley, Little Stukeley, Old Hurst, Pidley, Ramsey, St Ives, , Somersham, Upwood, Warboys, Wistow, Woodhurst and Wyton.[1][6]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h William Page; Granville Proby; S. Inskip Ladds, eds. (1936). "A History of the County of Huntingdon: Volume 2: The hundred of Hurstingstone". pp. 149–152. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Huntingdonshire" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 951–953, see page 952. History....The Domesday Survey, besides the four existing divisions of Norman Cross, Toseland, Hurstingstone and Leightonstone......
  3. ^ a b J.J.N. Palmer. "Domesday Book Map: Hundred of Hurstingstone". www.opendomesday.org. Anna Powell-Smith. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  4. ^ Ann Williams; G.H. Martin, eds. (1992). Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin Books. pp. 551–561. ISBN 0-141-00523-8.
  5. ^ "A Vision of Britain through Time:Hurstingstone Hundred". www.visionofbritain.org.uk. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Huntingdonshire". Cambridge History.

Coordinates: 52°22′16″N 0°05′42″W / 52.371°N 0.095°W / 52.371; -0.095


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