Hundred of Willey

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The Hundred of Willey is a historical land division, a hundred in northwest corner of Bedfordshire, England. Its northwestern boundary is the county border with Northamptonshire, and its southwestern boundary the border with Buckinghamshire. Some of its parishes and settlements lay on the River Great Ouse which flows through the hundred.

The hundred of Willey was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 and included the Parishes:- Carlton, Chellington, Farndish, Felmersham with Radwell, Harrold, Odell, Podington with Hinwick, Sharnbrook, Thurleigh, Turvey, and Wymington.

Later the hundred also included the parishes:- Biddenham, Bletsoe, Bromham, Pavenham, Souldrop, Stagsden, and Stevington.^[1] At some point the parishes of Carlton and Chellington merged to become one parish, Carlton with Chellington.

What is now the northeast corner or the Hundred of Willey was the Half Hundred of Bucklow, it had long been associated with the Hundred of Willey and became absorbed into it in 1831, causing it to gain some of the extra parishes. In the 1200s the two were royal hundreds recorded as the bailiwick of Wilie and half bailiwick of Bukkelowe. The keeper of the bailiwick of Wilie and half bailiwick of Bukkelowe then was a man named Hugh de Willey, at his death in 1278 his son Roger succeeded him; making the title appear hereditary.

Although there are many small settlements the majority of land in the hundred remains rural and is still used for farming. There is a railway line running close to the northeast border, however some stations on this line are now closed such as Sharnbrook closed in 1960. Today the area of the Hundred of Willey is within the Borough of Bedford.

[edit] See also

List of hundreds of England and Wales

[edit] References