THE HUNDRED OF NORMAN CROSS
containing the parishes of Alwalton; Caldecote; Chesterton; Conington; Denton; Elton; Farcet; Fletton; Folksworth; Glatton; Haddon; Holme; Morborne; Orton Longueville with Botolph-Bridge; Orton Waterville; Sawtry; Stanground; Stibbington; Stilton; Washingley; Water Newton; Woodston; Wood Walton; Yaxley
The Hundred of Norman Cross took its name from the Norman Cross,
which formerly stood on the Ermine Street, where it was crossed by the road
from Yaxley to Folksworth, roughly in the centre of the group of parishes
forming the hundred. The name was derived from some Scandinavian
settler from Norway, to whom the descriptive name of Northman was given,
while the word Cross is also a Norse loan-word. (fn. 1) Presumably the original
English name of the hundred has been lost.
The hundred included a considerable part of the parish of Whittlesea
(Cambs).
In 1086, the Huntingdonshire portion was assessed at 188 hides (fn. 2) and already
had its 13th-century boundaries. (fn. 3) The boundaries are given in a document of
the following century: 'the circuit of the Hundred of Norman cros begins at the
bridge of Walmesford and so leads by the bank of the Nene as far as the mill of
Neuton' and includes a certain meadow which is called Fremannesholt between
Sibston' and Neuton'; and so leads from the said mills [sic] by the said bank as far as
the mill of Alwelton'; and from the said mills by the said bank as far as Gunneswade; and from Gunneswade by the said bank it leads under Peterborough
to Medwelle, by the said bank as far as Cheselawe and from Cheselawe by the
said bank as far as [the] Wodeshed' of Stangrond'; and from [the] Wodeshed
by the said bank as far as Holde[i]he under Wytlyseye and thence as far as
Frydaylake and thence as far as Sadilbowe, and thence as far as Wyshammowthe
and thence as far as Benewyk' and so by the middle of the town of Benewyk' as
far as Schirmere; and it includes the whole of Schirmere; and from Schirmere by
the said bank of the Nene to Rammesmere and so by the middle of Rammesmere,
including half of Rammesmere, as far as Co[u]clys by the said bank; and thence
as far as Walton'stok, so as to include the fen of Glatton' with Ubmere; and from
Waltonestok as far as the wood of Stallyng, including the said wood with the
assarts of the said wood; and thence as far as the wood of Rypton', so as to
exclude the wood of Rypton', by a certain small bank, which separates the
wood of Rypton' and the wood of Walton' and so separates the Hundred of
Normancross and the Hundred of Hirstyngston'; and so by that bank as far
as Siwardesheye, including Siwardsheye, by a ditch under the wood of Rypton'
as far as the corner over against the wood of Alkemundebury; and so from the
corner descending by the same ditch as far as the wood of the monks of Sautre,
including Sewardesh', under the wood of the monks as far as Upton Hanger;
and thence as far as Stangate, and so by Stangate as far as the wood of Copman-
forth' and so by a certain ditch under the said wood as far as [the] Wodeshed',
excluding the wood of Copmanforth'; and thence as far as Slakkemere by a
certain ditch including the whole field of the monks of Sautre; and thence
by another road as far as Albound; and thence to Glatton' dyke by the said
road including the whole field of the whole township (villata) of Sautre.' (fn. 4)
Here the record ends, but the boundary evidently followed the county boundary until it reached the Nene at Elton and so came to Wansford Bridge.
Index Map to the Hundred of Norman Cross
William Rufus granted the hundred to the Abbey of Thorney in Cambridgeshire at a fee-farm rent of £5 a year to be paid to the sheriff. (fn. 5) The
abbot originally paid 4s. a year for the toll of the 'passagium' of the hundred,
from which he was freed by King Stephen, (fn. 6) and 20s. for the right to hold the
view of frankpledge, and 40s. 3d. for sheriff's aid. He paid the aid as late as
1230, but in 1285 he claimed to be freed both from suit to the county and
sheriff's aid under a charter of Henry II and at the same date paid nothing
for the view of frankpledge. (fn. 7) The different townships in the hundred were
assessed to make payments to the Abbey of Thorney towards the farm, the
manor of Elton paying 4 summa of oats and 20d. a year. These seem to have
been withheld by the Abbot of Ramsey, as lord of Elton, and after an inquiry
ordered by the Exchequer, it was agreed in 1221, that 1 mark of silver should
be paid from Elton to cover all dues to the hundred. (fn. 8) The two townships of
Alwalton and Fletton paid 20s. a year to the farm, but in 1194 this payment
was withdrawn by the Abbot of Peterborough, and the Abbot of Thorney
only paid £4 a year, for which the sheriff accounted at the Exchequer, no
question being raised apparently as to the reduction until 1285. (fn. 9) In the lawsuit which was then brought by the Crown under a writ of quo warranto, it
was decided that the Abbot of Peterborough had no charter acquitting him
of the payment and that the Abbey of Thorney must pay the full farm of £5,
besides the arrears due for 91 years. (fn. 10) The hundred in the meantime was
taken into the king's hands, and in 1290 was granted to Queen Eleanor. (fn. 11) In
1292, however, it was restored to the Abbey of Thorney at the increased
farm of 10 marks. (fn. 12) In 1301, the abbey complained that in spite of this
the sheriff was entering the hundred and holding his tourn there, as he had
done apparently since 1241, and an inquiry was ordered. (fn. 13) The abbey
evidently recovered its rights and held the tourn and view of frankpledge in
the following century. (fn. 14) In 1445, the abbey complained that the hundred
was so much wasted and the lands destroyed by floods that it hardly received
40s. a year and so obtained a grant of various privileges to increase the profits
received from the hundred. (fn. 15) Certain townships in the hundred paid rents
to it: 11s. from Chesterton, 11s. from Morborne, 8s. from Sawtry Moyne,
6s. 8d. from Orton Longueville, 4s. 8d. from Orton Waterville and 4s. from
Washingley. (fn. 16) After the dissolution of the Abbey of Thorney, the Crown
held the hundred until 1611, when James I granted it to Sir Robert Cotton,
Thomas Cotton, his son, and John Cotton, his grandson, at an annual rent of
53s. 4d., (fn. 17) but in the following year he granted it to Edmund Sawyer and
Thomas Brinley, probably merely fishing grantees, (fn. 18) from whom Sir Robert
Cotton and his son bought it together with the office of bailiff of the hundred. (fn. 19)
They held the hundred court, of which rolls are extant from 1628 to 1632. (fn. 20)
From a lawsuit between the Cottons and certain citizens of London who had
bought the manor of Yaxley, which had also belonged to Thorney Abbey, it
appears that the abbey had had one bailiff for both the hundred of Norman
Cross and the manor of Yaxley, and consequently the different courts, their
perquisites and profits were not differentiated. Thus when the hundred and
the manor were granted to different purchasers by James I, both parties claimed
the rents already referred to. (fn. 21) The hundred afterwards passed to the
Probys, probably at the time of the marriage of Sir Thomas Proby, bart., to
Frances, daughter of Sir Thomas Cotton, bart. (fn. 22) John Joshua Proby, the
2nd Baron Carysfort, owned the hundred in 1773 (fn. 23) and in 1801, when he
was created a baron of the United Kingdom, he took his title from the Hundred
of Norman Cross. (fn. 24)