Little and Lesnes Hundred facts for kids

Little and Lesnes was a very old type of land division in Kent, England. It was called a "hundred." Think of it like an old-fashioned district. This hundred was in the northern part of a larger area called the Lathe of Sutton-at-Hone. It was the most northern hundred in all of Kent.

Little and Lesnes existed for a very long time, even before the Domesday Book was written in 1086. It stopped being used when new local government areas were created in the late 1800s. Today, the area that was Little and Lesnes Hundred is part of London. It covers the northeast part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the northern part of the London Borough of Bexley. The River Thames is to its north, and Watling Street is to its south. The area around Abbey Wood is roughly in the middle of where the hundred used to be. Little and Lesnes Hundred was about 4 miles (6.5 km) from north to south and 7 miles (11.25 km) from east to west.

What's in a Name?

The name of this hundred changed a lot over hundreds of years. It was also connected to names of places inside it.

• In the Domesday Book (1086) and up to the mid-1200s, it was called the Hundred of Litelai.
• Later, it became Litlelee.
• By 1347, it was recorded as the Hundred of Litley.
• Around 1400, people started calling it the Hundred of Little and Lesnes. This name stuck for about 500 years!
• Sometimes, especially in the 1800s, it was also spelled Lessness. Some records even just called it the Hundred of Lessness.
• In the 1831 census, Lessness was the most common name, but Little and Lessness was still used.

The name "Lesnes" or "Lessness" is also found in places like Lessness Park, Lessness Heath, and Lesnes Abbey. These places then gave their names to Lesnes Abbey Woods and Abbey Wood.

Where Was It?

The Hundred of Little and Lesnes was the northernmost hundred in Kent. It was part of the Sutton-at-Hone Lathe, which was a bigger division in West Kent.

It shared land borders with three other hundreds:

• To the west and southwest was Blackheath Hundred.
• To the south was the Hundred of Ruxley.
• To the east and southeast was the Hundred of Dartford and Wilmington.

The northern edge of Little and Lesnes was the River Thames. Across the river was the county of Essex. Today, parts of the River Cray and the River Darent still form the eastern border. This border now separates the London Borough of Bexley from the Kent Borough of Dartford. Watling Street, an ancient Roman road, formed much of the southern border.

Towns and Villages Inside

The Hundred of Little and Lesnes included four main parishes (like local church districts) and their churches:

• Plumstead (in the west)
• Erith (in the center)
• Crayford (in the east)
• East Wickham (the smallest, in the south)

Before 1854, East Wickham was often considered part of Plumstead parish. It became its own official parish in 1854.

Other places found within the hundred's old borders included:

• Northumberland Heath
• Belvedere
• Lessness Heath
• Abbey Wood
• North End
• West Heath
• Howbury
• The northern parts of Welling and Bexleyheath

Places like Thamesmead are in this area today, but they didn't exist as towns until long after the hundred was gone. Important natural and historical sites like Lesnes Abbey, Lesnes Abbey Woods, and Erith Marshes were also within the hundred.

A Look Back: History and Records

This hundred was very old, like most hundreds in Kent. It was already in place when the Domesday Book was created in 1086. The Domesday Book called it the Hundred of Litlelee. At that time, the biggest settlement in the hundred was Lessness.

In 1086, the Domesday Book counted 153 households (families) living in four main places:

• 68 households in Lessness
• 43 in Plumstead
• 34 in Crayford
• 8 in Howbury

By the 1831 census, the area of Little and Lesnes Hundred was about 10,410 acres (42 km²). The population was 6,699 people. Out of these, 3,256 were female and 3,443 were male. About 1,657 males were over 20 years old. There were 1,432 families living in 1,165 houses. Many families worked in farming (473 families) or in trade and crafts (491 families).

Railways Arrive

In 1849, the North Kent Line railway was built through Little and Lesnes Hundred. This connected Kent to London. Several train stations were built along this line:

• Plumstead
• Abbey Wood
• Belvedere
• Erith

Erith and Abbey Wood stations opened in 1849. Plumstead and Belvedere opened ten years later in 1859. Slade Green railway station opened in 1900, but the hundred was no longer in use by then. On September 1, 1866, Crayford railway station opened on the Dartford Loop Line. Crayford was the only station on this line within the hundred's borders.

The End of the Hundred

Little and Lesnes, like most other hundreds, became outdated in the late 1800s. This happened when new local government districts were created after the Local Government Act 1888.

• Western Part: The western half of the hundred, including Plumstead and East Wickham parishes, became part of the County of London in 1889. In 1900, these areas became part of the new Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich. Then, in 1965, when Greater London was formed, Plumstead and East Wickham became part of the London Borough of Greenwich.

• Eastern Part: Erith and Crayford stayed in Kent for a while longer.
  • Erith parish became part of the Local Government District of Erith in 1876. This became an urban district in 1894, and then the Municipal Borough of Erith in 1938. Finally, in 1965, it became part of the new London Borough of Bexley.
  • Crayford became part of the Dartford Rural District in 1894. But on October 1, 1920, it became its own district, the Crayford Urban District. This district also joined the London Borough of Bexley in 1965.

This shows how the old "hundred" system was replaced by the modern borough system we have today in London.