Portbury

Coordinates: 51°28′12″N 2°42′59″W / 51.4699°N 2.7163°W / 51.4699; -2.7163

Portbury is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England within the Unitary Authority of North Somerset.The parish includes the hamlet of Sheepway which is situated on the moorland at the northern edge of the Gordano valley, between the Gordano services on the M5 motorway and Portishead, near the Royal Portbury Dock. The parish has a population of 827.

History

The Romans built a wharf at Portbury for the export of lead and tin from mines on the Mendip Hills. The wharf itself would have been at Sheepway derived from Old English, is scæp and weg meaning sheep track.

Portbury is mentioned in the Liber Exoniensis and was given by William the Conqueror to one of his favourites, Bishop Geoffrey de Montbray of Coutances — the 'battling bishop' - sword in one hand and crook in the other! It had previously been held by the Godwin family who were the most powerful family in the whole country. Godwin was Earl of Wessex, Harold, his son, was the loser at Hastings in 1066. His daughter was queen to Edward the Confessor. So in Saxon times Portbury must have been an important place but no pre-1066 record or trace exists. So it first appears in written history in the Domesday Book which was for taxation of the Hundred of Portbury - the sub-division of the shire of Somerset for justice, defence and revenue purposes. The Domesday Book quotes 'Godwin held it from the King", Godwin being Harold 11's eldest son and also holding the title of Sheriff of Somerset. There would have existed in Portbury itself a substantial manor house within defensive boundaries that would have held the court and storehouses for grain. The village itself is small but in former times ruled over most of the Gordano valley and the remote satellite enclave of Hamgreen.

Hundred of Portbury

The Hundred of Portbury is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, 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. They also formed a unit for the collection of taxes. The role of the hundred court was described in the Dooms (laws) of King Edgar. The name of the hundred was normally that of its meeting-place.

The Hundred was recorded in the Domesday Book it was recorded as containing 86.5 hides. 63 of these paid rent to the King with the rest being held by barons.

The Hundred of Portbury consisted of the ancient parishes of: Abbots Leigh, Bourton, Clapton, Clevedon, Easton in Gordano, Nailsea, Portbury, Portishead, Tickenham, Walton, Weston in Gordano, and Wraxall. It covered an area of 23,980 acres (9,700 ha).

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 1867 and the introduction of districts by the Local Government Act 1894.