THE HUNDRED OF AMOUNDERNESS 



CONTAINING THE PARISHES OF 



PRESTON 

 KIRKHAM 

 LYTHAM 

 POULTON-LE-FYLDE 



BISPHAM 



ST. MICHAEL-ON-WYRE 



GARSTANG 



AMOUNDERNESS 

 HUNDRED . 



The whole of the above parishes are contained within the hundred or 

 wapentake of Amounderness, 1 which includes in addition the townships of 



Alston with Hothersall in Rib- 

 chester, Forton and Cleveley in 

 Cockerham, and Fulwood, Myer- 

 scough, Bleasdale, Preesall and 

 Stalmine in Lancaster. 2 A very 

 large part of the area is the level 

 district on the western side known 

 as The Fylde, once ' the Wheat- 

 field of Amounderness ' 3 ; the 

 eastern part is more hilly and 

 Fairsnape Fell in Bleasdale attains 

 a height of 1,674 ft. above the 

 sea. The Ribble forms the 

 southern boundary; the next 

 important stream is the Wyre, 

 which is joined by the Brock, 

 watering the centre of the hun- 

 dred, and flowing west and then 

 north to enter the sea by the 

 Wyre estuary. Leland writing 

 about 1535 says that the hundred had formerly been full of wood, the moors 

 being ' replenished with high fir trees,' but he found the seaward portion 

 ' sore destitute of wood.' 4 



1 The hundred was denned probably soon after the Conquest. The name has many spellings : 

 Agemundrenesse, Dom. Bk. ; Almunderness, 1 177 ; Agmundernes, 1212 ; Augmonderness, 1226 ; 

 Aumundernesse, 1242 ; Amunderness, 1244 ; Aumonderness, Aumunderneys, 1297 ; Andreness, 1535. 



A pleading in 1300 turned upon the spelling of the word. The plaintiff claimed an acre in Preston in 

 ' Aundernesse ' ; the defendants replied that Preston was within a certain liberty called Aumundernesse and 

 not Aundernesse ; De Banco R. 134, m. 69. 



Camden gives Anderness as the local pronunciation in his time. Leland spells it Aundernesse. 



Agamund was a monk of Croyland, and Hagemund occurs locally as a personal name ; Lanes. I no. and 

 Extents (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, passim. 



2 For convenience the accounts of Fulwood, Myerscough and Bleasdale have been added to Preston, 

 and those of Preesall and Stalmine to Kirkham. 



Fulwood, Myerscough and Bleasdale were the principal parts of the forest of Amounderness ; see Ducatus 

 Lane. (Rec. Com.), iii, 331. 



3 Thornber, Blackpool, 125. Camden remarks : 'This part yieldeth plenty of oats, but [is] not so apt 

 to bear barley. However, it is full of fresh pastures, especially to the sea side, where it is pardy champain 

 ground' ; Britannia (ed. Gibson), 753. Very little corn is now raised. The district has no definite boundary, 

 'The Fylde' being a popular term, but a line drawn from Freckleton to Cockerham shows roughly the 

 eastern limit. * ltin. v, 98. 



68 



