Hundred of Catsash
{{Short description|Historical Hundred of Somerset, England}}
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|Name= Catsash
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|Divisions= Parishes
|DivisionsNames= Alford, Ansford, Babcary, North Barrow, South Barrow, St. David Barton, North Cadbury, South Cadbury, Castle Cary, Compton Pauncefoot, Keinton Mansfield, Kingweston, Lovington, West Lydford, Maperton, Queen Camel, Sparkford, Sutton Montis, and Weston Bampfield
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|AreaLast= {{convert|25,300|acre|ha}}
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The Hundred of Catsash is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England,{{cite web|title=Catsash Hundred|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10204379|work=A vision of Britain through rtime|publisher=University of Portsmouth|accessdate=6 October 2011}} dating from before the Norman conquest during the Anglo-Saxon era although exact dates are unknown. Each hundred had a 'fyrd', which acted as the local defence force and a court which was responsible for the maintenance of the frankpledge system.{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/status_page.jsp?unit_status=Hundred |title=Administrative Units Typology | Status definition: Hundred |publisher=Vision of Britain |date= |accessdate=2010-01-31}} They also formed a unit for the collection of taxes.{{cite web|title=The Shire and the Hundred|url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Shirehundred.htm|publisher=Somerset County Council|accessdate=13 October 2011|archive-date=14 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814143027/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Shirehundred.htm|url-status=dead}} The role of the hundred court was described in the Dooms (laws) of King Edgarwhile the name of the hundred was normally that of its meeting-place.{{cite web | url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/project/assembly/summary.htm | title=Summary | publisher=Institute of Archaeology | accessdate=15 October 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525082817/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/project/assembly/summary.htm | archive-date=25 May 2010 | url-status=dead }}
The hundred of Blachethorna described in the Domesday Book roughly equates to the later Hundred of Catsash.{{cite web|title=Blachethorna|url=http://www.domesdaymap.co.uk/hundred/blachethorna/|publisher=Open Domesday|accessdate=6 October 2011}}{{cite journal|last1=Thorn|first1=F.R.|title=The Ancient Territory of Somerton, Somerset|journal=Proceedings of SANHS|date=2012|volume=155|pages=163–191|url=http://www.sanhs.org/Documents/155/Thorn.pdf}}
The Catsash hundred covered an area of approximately {{convert|25,300|acre|ha}}.{{cite web|title=Somerset Hundreds|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/|publisher=GENUKI|accessdate=25 September 2011}} It consisted of the ancient parishes of: Alford, Ansford, Babcary, North Barrow, South Barrow, St. David Barton, North Cadbury, South Cadbury, Castle Cary, Compton Pauncefoot, Keinton Mansfield, Kingweston, Lovington, West Lydford, Maperton, Queen Camel, Sparkford, Sutton Montis, and Weston Bampfield.
The importance of the hundred courts declined from the seventeenth century. By the 19th century several different single-purpose subdivisions of counties, such as poor law unions, sanitary districts, and highway districts sprang up, filling the administrative role previously played by parishes and hundreds. Although the Hundreds have never been formally abolished, their functions ended with the establishment of county courts in 1867County Courts Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c. 142) s.28 and the introduction of districts by the Local Government Act 1894.{{cite web | url=http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/occupations/hundredmapping/ |title=Mapping the Hundreds of England and Wales in GIS | publisher=University of Cambridge Department of Geography|date=6 June 2008| accessdate=15 October 2011}}