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A map of the hundreds of Staffordshire from the Victoria County History of Staffordshire, provided by British History Online.
Pirehill is a "hundred" in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is located in the northwest and centre of Staffordshire, and 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. [edit] Definition and Evolution of the "Hundred"A large number of names of "Hundreds" refer to hills or mounds. Some of these are very conspicuous hills, which afford a commanding view of the countryside for miles around. It seems likely that such sites were chosen for their remoteness and bareness, and thus where interference was most easily avoided. 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 Hundred, Offlow Hundred, Cuttleston Hundred and Seisdon Hundred. Each of these hundreds were later separated into two divisions which also came to be called hundreds. It is this second group of hundreds that are covered in WeRelate. The importance of the hundred declined from the 17th century, and most of its functions were extinguished with the establishment of county courts in 1867. In 1894 the Hundred was made obsolete with the establishment of urban districts and rural districts. [edit] Pirehill HundredNorthern 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. Pirehill is one of the largest of the 5 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 commencing in the 19th century. 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 northeast by Totmonslow (Totmanslow) Hundred, on the east by Offlow Hundred, on the south by Cuttleston Hundred and on the west and northwest by the counties of Shropshire and Cheshire. The River Trent rises at its northern extremity and flows through it in a southeasterly direction, passing the noble seats of Trentham, Ingestre, Shugborough and Wolseley. Nearly parallel with that river runs the Trent and Mersey Canal. The hundred contains the boroughs of Stafford, the county town, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent, which includes the towns of the Potteries including Burslem and Hanley. Other noteable towns are Lane End, Stone, Eccleshall and Abbots Bromley. In the early 19th century Pirehill comprised 42 parishes, 14 chapelries and 5 extra-parochial places, which were subdivided into 126 townships and contained several hundred villages and hamlets. It was separated into the north and south "divisions", under the control of two chief constables. The number of the inhabitants nearly doubled during 1801-1831, as a vast augmentation occurred in the Potteries and at Newcastle, Stone and Stafford. The north and south divisions were of very unequal extent and population. The large parishes of Adbaston, Eccleshall and Seighford had townships in both divisions, an inconvenience which divided many of their parochial affairs between the two chief constables. Of the local government Districts created in the 1974 re-organisation, Newcastle under Lyme District and Stoke on Trent District (now a unitary authority) fall within Pirehill Hundred, as does the District (or borough) of Stafford except for its southernmost parishes. The District of Staffordshire Moorlands, East Staffordshire District and Lichfield District only have one or two parishes each in the hundred. The Northern Division (91,148 acres) and Southern Divisions (110,345 acres) were roughly similar in area, but the Northern Division had the vast majority of the population. The Southern Division encompassed an area around Stafford and Stone, now within the Borough of Stafford (but not its western-most parishes), with the remainder falling in the Northern Division. [edit] North Pirehill Parishes
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