Hundred of Ruxley

Ruxley
Map published in 1797 showing the hundred of Ruxley
with the hundred of Bromley and Beckenham.
Area
 • 183136,320 acres (147 km2)[1]
 • 185136,431 acres (147 km2)[2]
Population
 • 183112,329 [1]
 • 185116,312 (in 3026 houses) [2]
History
 • Createdin antiquity
 • Abolished1884 - 1965, see chart
 • Succeeded byBromley Rural District, and
Bexley Urban District, see chart
Statusobsolete
Governmenthundred
 • HQRuxley[3]
Subdivisions
 • TypeParishes
 • UnitsChelsfield, Cudham, Downe, Farnborough, Foots Cray, Hayes, Keston, Knockholt, North Cray, Orpington, St Mary Cray, St Paul's Cray, and West Wickham,[4][5] (plus Ruxley before 1557[6]) and parts of Bexley,[7] Chislehurst, Chiddingstone, and Hever .[5]

Ruxley (previously Rokesley, and in the Domesday Book Helmestrei[7][8]) was an ancient hundred, a land division in the north west of the county of Kent, England. Its area has been mostly absorbed by the growth of London; with its name currently referring to the Ruxley district.[9] Its former area now corresponds to a majority of the London Borough of Bromley, a large part of the London Borough of Bexley and a small part of the Kent District of Sevenoaks.[10][11][12] The hundred was within the Lathe of Sutton-at-Hone,[4][5][6] in the west division of Kent.

The hundred was approximately fourteen miles (22.5 km) at its longest north to south and about eight miles (13 km) and its widest east to west. The River Cray was the largest river in the hundred of Ruxley flowing northward through six of its parishes, four of which are named after it. The River Cray rises in Orpington then flows through St Mary Cray, St Paul's Cray, North Cray, Foots Cray, and Bexley before crossing the northern border and Watling Street into the Hundred of Lesnes.

In 1797 the hundred was recorded as being divided into two half hundreds named Upper Ruxley and Lower Ruxley and under the jurisdiction of two constables.[8]

As almost all the area of the Ruxley hundred has now been absorbed by the growth of London, and as civil parishes were abolished in Greater London, Knockholt which was in the south of Ruxley is the only parish of the Hundred that is a civil parish today. Knockholt is also the only part of this Kent Hundred that is in Kent today, although both would not have been true whilst Knockholt was in the London Borough of Bromley between 1965 and 1969.

  1. ^ a b Hundred of Ruxley 1831 census on British History Online
  2. ^ a b John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-1872) accessed from VisionofBritain.org.uk "RUXLEY, a hundred in the lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, Kent; containing Bexley parish and 14 other parishes. Acres, 36, 431. Pop. in 1851, 16, 312. Houses, 3,026."
  3. ^ An Historical Atlas of Kent, edited by Terence Lawrence & David Killingray (2004) ISBN 1-86077-255-2 - Map and description of meeting places & hundreds p. 30
  4. ^ a b An Historical Atlas of Kent, edited by Terence Lawrence & David Killingray (2004) ISBN 1-86077-255-2 - Maps front cover and back cover inlay
  5. ^ a b c Vision of Britain - Hundred of Ruxley - Divisions and changes
  6. ^ a b The Hundred of Ruxley at British History Online.
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference DDB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b "The hundred of Ruxley: Introduction". Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  9. ^ Mills, A. D., A Dictionary of London Place Names, p. 214 (2001) ISBN 978-0-19-956678-5
  10. ^ Vision of Britain map shows old boundaries map[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ Streetmap,co.uk shows present boundaries
  12. ^ Nicholson Greater London Street Atlas Comprehensive Edition (2003) ISBN 0-583-33291-9 shows present boundaries