Pirehill
| Pirehill | |
|---|---|
| History | |
| • Origin | Anglo-Saxon period |
| • Created | 10th century |
| • Abolished | 1894 |
| • Succeeded by | various |
| Status | Obsolete |
| Government | Hundred |
| Subdivisions | |
| • Type | Parishes (see text) |
| • Units | Parishes |
Pirehill is a hundred in the county of Staffordshire, England.
The hundred is located in the north-west and centre of Staffordshire, named after Pire Hill (height 462 ft), a hill two miles south of Stone. The hill was a meeting place for the hundred moot and a rallying point in case of invasion. A large number of hundred names refer to hills or mounds. Some of these at least are very conspicuous hills, which afford a commanding view of the countryside for miles around. It seems likely that such sites were chosen as being remote, and where interference was most easily avoided.
Northern Staffordshire is to a large extent moorland, which must have been unattractive to early settlers. It is noteworthy that the meeting-places of the two northern hundreds (Pirehill and Totmonslow) are in the extreme south of the respective hundreds.
The origin of the hundred dates from the division of his kingdom by King Alfred the Great into counties, hundreds and tithings. From the beginning, Staffordshire was divided into the hundreds of Pirehill, Totmonslow, Offlow, Cuttleston and Seisdon.
Pirehill is one of the largest of the five hundreds of Staffordshire, having an area of 201,493 acres (314 sq.miles), and in the 19th Century the most populous hundred in Staffordshire, with a population in 1861 of 149,734.
It is remarkable for the fertility of its soil, for the beauty and diversity of its scenery and the number and magnificence of its stately homes (the seats of the nobility and gentry), as also for the extent and importance of its manufactures. It contains the long chain of towns and villages called the Potteries, a renowned place of china and pottery manufacturing in the 19th century and later. It also contains Stafford and Stone, which were renowned for shoe manufactutring. It is about 28 miles in length, north to south, and around 8 to 20 miles in breadth. It is bounded on the north-east by Totmonslow (Totmanslow) hundred, on the east by Offlow hundred, on the south by Cuttleston Hundred and on the west and north-west by Shropshire and Cheshire.
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