Axstane Hundred
Axstane was a hundred in the county of Kent, England. The Hundred of Axstane lay south-east of Dartford and Wilmington Hundred. It is called Achestan in Domesday Book, but by the reign of Edward I it was called Axstane.
| Axstane | |
|---|---|
| Former subdivision of England | |
|
Map showing the parishes of the hundred of Axstane | |
| Area | |
| • Coordinates | 51.395480°N 0.326980°E |
| History | |
| • Origin | Anglo-Saxon period |
| • Created | 10th century |
| • Abolished | 1894 |
| • Succeeded by | Dartford Rural District |
| Status | obsolete |
| Government | Hundred |
| Subdivisions | |
| • Type | Parishes (see text) |
| • Units | Parishes |
Its name has been interpreted as referring to an oak bearing stony land, or alternatively a reference to the personal name Acca.
In the time of Edward I, the King and the Archbishop of Canterbury were then its lords paramount. In the 20th year of the reign of Edward III (1347, just before the Black Death) this hundred answered for a total of 14.725 knights' fees.
Alternative spellings: Achestan (as above), Axston, Axstone, Axtane, Axton
The hundred included the parishes of
- Ash
- Darenth
- Eynsford
- Farningham
- Fawkham
- Hartley
- Horton Kirby
- Longfield
- Lullingstone
- Ridley
- Southfleet
- Stone
- Swanscombe
- Sutton-at-Hone
- Kingsdown
The Hundred of Dartford and Wilmington did not exist at the time of the Norman Conquest, and the parishes of Dartford and Wilmington were accounted as part of Axstane in Domesday Book.
The importance of the hundred courts declined from the 17th century, and most of their powers were extinguished with the establishment of county courts in 1867. In 1894 the Hundred was succeeded by Dartford Rural District, which was then created out of the same parishes, with the addition of Wilmington and Crayford.