Little and Lesnes Hundred

Little and Lesnes
Former subdivision of England
1086–1876

Map of the Hundred of Little and Lesnes and the Hundred of Dartford and Wilmington by Edward Hasted published, by W Bristow Canterbury (1778 and 1797) included in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent (1778–99) (Hasted)
Area
 • 183110,410 acres (42 km2)[1]
 • 183110,410 acres (42 km2)
Population
 • 1086? (153 households)[2]
 • 18316,699[3]
History
 • CreatedAncient (before 1086)[2]
 • Abolished1876-1894 (obsolete) [4]
 • Succeeded byPlumstead and East Wickham: County of London (1889) [4] and Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich (1900) [4][5] then London Borough of Greenwich (1965)
Erith: Municipal Borough of Erith (1876) [4][6] then London Borough of Bexley (1965)
Crayford: Dartford Rural District (1894) then Crayford Urban District (1920) then London Borough of Bexley (1965)
StatusObsolete
GovernmentHundred
 • HQLesnes Heath[7]
History 
• Established
1086
• Disestablished
1876
Subdivisions
 • TypeParishes
 • UnitsCrayford, East Wickham*, Erith, Plumstead,[8][9]
(*Before 1854 East Wickham was part of Plumstead parish[10][11])

Little and Lesnes was a hundred, a historical land division, in the county of Kent, England.[2][4][8][9][12] It occupied the northern part of the Lathe of Sutton-at-Hone[8] in the west division of Kent. Little and Lesnes was the northernmost hundred in the whole county of Kent.[8] The hundred existed since ancient times, before the Domesday Book of 1086,[2] until it was made obsolete with the creation of new districts at the end of the nineteenth century.[4]

Today the area that was the Hundred of Little and Lesnes is suburban London, covering the northeast corner of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the northern part of the London Borough of Bexley, with the River Thames to the north, and Watling Street to the south; and roughly centred on the area of Abbey Wood.[8][13][14] Little and Lesnes Hundred was approximately, 4 miles (6.5 km) across north to south, and about 7 miles (11.25 km) wide east to west.[8][9]

  1. ^ Area of Lessness Hundred recorded in the 1831 Great Britain census accessed from Visionofbritain.org.uk
  2. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference DDB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference censuspop was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c d e f History of Kent, by Frank Jessup, 1958
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference A1900 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Erith". Archives and Local History. London Borough of Bexley. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c d e f An Historical Atlas of Kent, edited by Terence Lawrence & David Killingray (2004) ISBN 1-86077-255-2 - Maps front cover and back cover inlay
  9. ^ a b c Map of the Hundred of Little and Lesnes and the Hundred of Dartford and Wilmington by Edward Hasted published, by W Bristow Canterbury (1778 and 1797) included in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent (1778–99) (Hasted) accessed from [1]
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Plum was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference EWick was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference names was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Nicholson Greater London Street Atlas Comprehensive Edition (2003) pp. 145-147 + 165-167 ISBN 0-583-33291-9 shows present district boundaries
  14. ^ Abbey Wood area map accessed from Streetmap.co.uk showing modern administrative boundaries