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The hundreds of Cornwall (Cornish: Keverangow Kernow), known historically as shires, or, in the Cornish language, keverangow, were administrative divisions into which Cornwall, the former administrative county in the United Kingdom, was divided from Romano-British or Post Roman times until 1894, when they were replaced with local government districts. The system used in Cornwall was similar in origin to that of the Welsh cantref, but with later influence from the English hundredal system. The number of hundreds increased, from an original seven, to ten by the 19th century. Their names were, from west to east, Scilly, Penwith, Kerrier, Pydarshire, Powdershire, Triggshire, Lesnewth, Stratton, West Wivelshire and East Wivelshire.

History[edit]

The concept of dividing territory up into areas composed of 100 smaller units was used as far back as the Roman land measurement of centuria, made up of 100 heredium. The English hundredal system, developed in the 10th century, was based on units of 100 hides, a hide being either 120 acres or the area that could be ploughed by one free peasant family. The Welsh cantref was made up of 100 settlements, in Welsh cant trev. The Cornish hundredal divisions were based on trev settlements similar to the Welsh cantref, in this case the western four hundreds in Cornwall contained roughly 200 trevs each, suggesting that they were double cantrefs, whilst the eastern hundreds each had around 100 trevs. (Padel) The eastern hundreds were originally combined into two larger hundreds similar in size to the western four. These larger hundreds, much larger than typical English hundreds, were based on the Roman pagus, an administrative division of tribal territory. (Peters Archaeology)

Shires[edit]

Most of the names of the hundreds ended with the suffix shire as in Pydarshire, East and West Wivelshire and Powdershire which were first recorded as names between 1184 and 1187.^[1] it isn't until the late 12th century that Cornish shires are first referred to as hundreds.

The earliest mention of one of the territories that would become a hundred of Cornwall is that of Triggshire, recorded in the 7th century as "Pagus Tricurius", land of three war hosts,^[2] and Triconscire circa 900, when it is mentioned in the will of Alfred, king of Wessex, as being on Wealcynne (in the territory of the Britons).

Cnut laws, Laws Henry I 7 shires

In the Geld Inquest of 1083 seven of the hundreds, identified by the names of the chief manors of each: Connerton, Winnianton, Pawton, Tybesta, Stratton, Fawton and Rillaton (corresponding to Penwith, Kerrier, Pydarshire, Powdershire, Triggshire, West Wivelshire and East Wivelshire). At the time of the Domesday Survey of 1086, the internal order of the Cornish manors in the Exeter 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]

Shire wapentake wapentakes

Penwithshire - Penrithsir (sic) 1214 (Olof Sigfrid Arngart, The English Hundred-names; the South-eastern Counties with a Survey of Elements Found in Hundred-names and a Chapter on the Origin of the Hundred, 1939)

Kerrier - Vennesir 1027-1035 (The Electronic Sawyer https://esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk/) J. R. Fletcher, Short History Of St. Michael's Mount Cornwall, 2014

Keverangow[edit]

In the Cornish language the word keverang (plural keverangow) is the equivalent for English hundred and the Welsh cantref. In Cornish language texts the word appears as keverang in the play Beunans Meriasek written in 1504, cevern in Lhuyd's vocabulary, and in plural as gevern anko in Nicholas Boson's works, and kyvur ancou in Pryce's vocabulary. The word, in its plural form, appears in place names such as Meankeverango (i.e. stone of the hundreds) in 1580 (now The Enys, north of Prussia Cove and marking the southern end of the boundary between the hundreds of Penwith and Kerrier), and Assa Govranckowe (pass of the hundreds) 1580, Kyver Ankou circa 1720, also on the meeting point of the four western hundreds of Penwith, Kerrier, Powdershire and Pydarshire near Scorrier. It is also found in the singular form at Buscaverran (hundred home), just south of Crowan churchtown and also on the Penwith-Kerrier border. It is cognate to the Middle Breton word cuuranc (military assembly) and the Welsh cyfranc (encounter). (George, Gerlyver Meur)

Origin of the hundred names[edit]

The name Penwith comes from the Cornish language penwyth meaning furthest end; the name Kerrier is a plural form of the Cornish word ker, meaning fort, the older name for this hundred was Gwenneshire;(J. R. Fletcher, Short History Of St. Michael's Mount Cornwall, 2014) Lesnewth denotes a place where a 'new court' had been established (the 'old court' being at Henlis(-ton): Helstone); Powdershire comes from the Cornish pow (land, country) and ereder (ploughs) with the addition of English shire; Pydarshire contains the Cornish word peder (four) meaning the fourth shire, also occasionally called Petrockshire after St Petrock; (The Medieval Cult of St Petrock) Stratton was named after the head manor of the hundred at the time of Domesday, the name comes from stras (flat bottomed valley) and neet (the name of a river) with the addition of Old English ton (town); the names of East and West (Wivelshire) come from the English Twifold-shire, meaning a shire divided into two; when East and West were added the first letter of Twifold-shire disappeared leaving the name Wivelshire; Triggshire stems from the Cornish trigordh meaning three tribes and reflects an ancient division of Triggshire into three parts, originally Stratton and Lesnewth formed the other two parts of Triggshire.(Weatherhill) Trégor (Hugh Clout, Themes in the Historical Geography of France, 2013)

Organisation[edit]

Cornish hundreds were different from English hundreds in how they were administered and were much larger than the standard English hundred. (Henderson, Church history. and Peters Archaeology) The nine hundreds of Cornwall were grouped into four larger divisions: North, South, East and West. These divisions and the hundreds each had their own assembly town. The hundreds themselves were subdivided into divisions, and further divided into parishes. The officers in charge of Cornish hundreds were called bailiffs and below them there were parish constables. (Rowse)

Tithings measures in land not people (Deacon, Cornwall's First Golden Age, 2016 p156)

Divisions[edit]

West Division contained the hundreds of Penwith and Kerrier, South Division of Powdershire and Pydarshire, North Division of Triggshire, Lesnewth and Stratton, and East Division was comprised of East Wivelshire and West Wivelshire.(Carew and Norden) East Wivelshire was divided into three divisions from at least the 1660s. Powdershire was divided into two divisions, but this was increased to three with the creation of Tywardreath Division in 1831. Penwith, Kerrier, and Pydar were all divided into two divisions. (Kresen Kernow catalogue)

Towns of Assembly[edit]

Assemblies for military purposes were held at various towns across Cornwall, with each division and hundred having its own town of assembly. West Division assembled at Helston, North Division at Camelford, East Division at Liskeard and South Division at St Columb Major. Penwith's town of assembly was Penzance, Kerrier Helston, Powdershire Grampound, Pydarshire St Columb Major, Triggshire Bodmin, Lesnewth Camelford, Stratton Stratton, East Wivelshire Callington, West Wivelshire Lanreath. In addition West and South divisions had their place of combined assembly in Truro; North and East divisions in Launceston. (Carew and Norden)

Officers[edit]

bailiffs, rather than the high constables found in English hundreds. In each parish there were parish constables who had similar powers and responsibilities to the English high constables. North Cornwall

bailiffs (hereditary - Binns) differ from English hundreds no High constables, deputy bailiffs and parish constables instead (Carew and Norden) parish constables more powerful and role in rebellions (Carew and Rowse) powers of parish constables (Norden)

Shirebaillie

Ownership of the hundreds[edit]

The lordships, bailiwicks or shire-baileys of the Hundreds of Cornwall belonged mostly to the Duchy of Cornwall, however several were in private hands. Penwith belonged to the Arundells of Lanherne, they also inherited Kerrier from the Carminow family, the bailiwick of Pydarshire belonged originally to the priory of St Petrock, but after the reformation it came into the hands of the Duchy, and East Wivelshire belonged to the Coryton family. (Kresen Kernow catalogue) The Arundells sold their lordship of Penwith to the Hawkins family in 1813 and it was subsequently purchased by the Paynter family in 1832. The Lordship of Penwith came with a great number of rights over the entire hundred. These included: rights to try certain cases of trespass, 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 principal manors and to claim the regalia of the navigable rivers and havens, the profits of the royal gold and silver mines, and all wrecks, escheats, deodands, treasure trove, waifs, estrays, goods of felons and droits of admiralty happening within the hundred.^[7]

Deaneries[edit]

Historically the church in Cornwall, first the Archdeaconry of Cornwall and afterwards the Diocese of Truro, was divided into deaneries, with the addition of the royal peculiar deanery of St Buryan. These deaneries largely shared their names and boundaries with the hundreds of Penwith, Kerrier, Powdershire, Pydarshire, East Wivelshire and West Wivelshire, with the exception of Triggshire, Lesnewth and Stratton which were divided into Trigg Minor and Trigg Major (historically known as Triggshire Major and Minor). Trigg Minor was comprised of Triggshire, and Trigg Major of Stratton and Lesnewth hundreds, with the addition of the northern part of East Wivelshire as far south as Launceston, and the then Devon parishes of Werrington, North Petherwin , St Giles on the Heath and Virginstow. More recently these deaneries have been subdivided further, and a deanery of Stratton created, leaving Lesnewth the only hundred without a deanery named after it. Bodmin register, ‎John Wallis, 1838. Henderson, Cornish Church Guide. Tenth Annual Report of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, 1842, p82

Dialectal differences in the Cornish language[edit]

During the mid 16th century the boundary between the majority English speaking east and Cornish speaking west was the line between the estuaries of the rivers Camel and Fowey. This line also demarked the border between Pydarshire and Powdershire in the west, and Triggshire and West Wivelshire in the east. Within the four western hundreds dialectal differences arose, as shown by Dr Ken George in his study of assibilation and palatalization in Cornish place-names. Cornish in Powdershire retained certain features of pronunciation which changed in Pydarshire, Penwith and Kerrier.^[8]

Other medieval divisions of Cornwall[edit]

Several subdivisions existed within the hundreds from medieval times.

The Lizard or Tyrar Cornish: Tirardh, meaning high land
Brannel – Cornish: Bronel, meaning hilly place
Meneage – Cornish: Manahek, meaning monastic lands
Roseland – Cornish: Ros, meaning promontory
Rame Peninsula – Cornish: Ros, meaning promontory^[9]

List of hundreds in 19th Century[edit]

By the mid 19th century Cornwall was composed of ten Hundreds, many of which had further subdivisions. (Kresen Kernow catalogue)

Penwith
- West Division
- East Division
Kerrier
- West Division
- East Division
Pydarshire
- West Division
- East Division
Powdershire
- West Division
- East Division
- Tywardreath Division
Triggshire
Lesnewth
Stratton
East Wivelshire
- North Division
- Middle Division
- South Division
West Wivelshire
Scilly

Parishes in the ten hundreds[edit]

References and bibliography[edit]

^ Gover, J. E. B. (1946) Research paper at the Courtney Library, Royal Institution of Cornwall, Truro.
^ Craig Weatherhill, Article in Cornish World; March 2007
^ Henderson, Charles 'A note on the hundreds of Pydar and Powder' in Essays in Cornish History (Oxford University Press, 1935)
^ W. G. Hoskins, The Westward Expansion of Wessex (Leicester: Univ. Press, 1960)
^ Thomas, Charles, 'Settlement History in Early Cornwall: I; the antiquity of the hundreds' in: Cornish Archaeology vol. 3 (St Ives: Cornwall Archaeological Society, 1964), pp. 70–79
^ Thorn, Caroline & Frank, eds., Domesday Book. 10: Cornwall (Chichester: Phillimore, 1979)
^ National Archives. Cat 021-ar-6 &c
^ George, Ken. "Assibilation and palatalization in Cornish: the evidence of place-names" (PDF). Cornish Language Board. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
^ Weatherhill, Craig (2009). A Concise Dictionary of Cornish Place-Names. Leac an Anfa, Cathair na Mart: Evertype. ISBN 978-1-904808-22-0.

Padel, O. J. (1985) Cornish Place-name Elements. Nottingham: English Place-name Society ISBN 0-904889-11-4

History[edit]

Shires[edit]

Keverangow[edit]

Origin of the hundred names[edit]

Organisation[edit]

Divisions[edit]

Towns of Assembly[edit]

Officers[edit]

Ownership of the hundreds[edit]

Deaneries[edit]

Dialectal differences in the Cornish language[edit]

Other medieval divisions of Cornwall[edit]

List of hundreds in 19th Century[edit]

Parishes in the ten hundreds[edit]

Penwith[edit]

Kerrier[edit]

Pydarshire[edit]

Powdershire[edit]

Triggshire[edit]

Lesnewth[edit]

Stratton[edit]

East Wivelshire[edit]

West Wivelshire[edit]

Scilly[edit]

References and bibliography[edit]

See also[edit]