Langley and Swinehead Hundred


Langley and Swinehead was an ancient hundred of Gloucestershire, England. Hundreds originated in the late Saxon period as a subdivision of a county and lasted as administrative divisions until the 19th century.
Langley and Swinehead was divided into two divisions - Upper and Lower - the Upper division comprised the four ancient parishes of Bitton, Doynton, Frampton-Cotterell and Winterbourne and part of the parish of Alveston. The Lower division comprised the three ancient parishes of Littleton-upon-Severn, Olveston and Rockhampton, the remainder of Alveston and part of the parish of Almondsbury.
At the time of the Domesday Book Langley and Swineshead were listed as two separate hundreds; Langley also included the parish of Thornbury - later a hundred of its own - and Swineshead included both the city of Bristol and what later became the Barton Regis Hundred.
Langley Hundred, on the west, comprised places within seven parishes:
Swineshead, on the east, comprised places within Bristol, the later Barton Regis Hundred and four other parishes:
Doynton was part of Pucklechurch Hundred at the time of the Domesday book.
The name Langley is derived from lang lēah , the place believed to be in Alveston parish where the hundred court met. 'Swineshead' came from swīn hēafod, a place near Swineford, Bitton parish where that hundred court met.
It's unclear when the hundreds of Langley and Swineshead were combined: the hundreds were still listed separately in 1395 and the combined hundred was reported from, at the latest, 1602.