Manshead, Historic hundred in Bedfordshire, England
Manshead is a historic administrative unit spanning southwestern Bedfordshire from Salford to Studham and from Leighton Buzzard to Houghton Regis and Dunstable. The region contained twenty-three parishes including Aspley Guise, Battlesden, Chalgrave, Dunstable, Eaton Bray, Eversholt, and Harlington.
The region took its name from a location in Eversholt parish, with records from 1349 showing Thomas Camill serving as bailiff under the name 'Maunesheved'. The western section of Watling Street appeared in the Domesday Book as the half-hundred of Stanbridge before merging into this division.
The Manshead Archaeological Society, founded in 1952, adopted this historic administrative unit's name for their research activities across the region. The name connects researchers with the local past as they conduct excavations and document findings.
Understanding the various locations and boundaries of this historic administrative unit can be aided by consulting maps of the individual parishes and using larger settlements like Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard as reference points. Local museums and archives provide additional information about the region's history and geography.
The Domesday Book records the western side of Watling Street as a separate half-hundred called Stanbridge before it merged into this region. This consolidation demonstrates how medieval administrative boundaries shifted and evolved over time.
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