Nottinghamshire

The county of Nottinghamshire was created around 1,000 years ago by the Anglo-Saxon monarchy as a means of stabilizing the kingdom after Viking invasions. For ease of administration the county was sub-divided into Wapentakes, which subsequently became known as Hundreds. In the Middle Ages there were six Wapentakes: Newark, Bassetlaw, Thurgarton, Rushcliffe, Broxtowe, and Bingham. By the sixteenth century they ceased to have real administrative importance but remained as a useful way of discussing the geography of the county, hence Dr Robert Thoroton's use of these divisions for his 'progress' around the county: Antiquities of Nottinghamshire (1677).

More recently the names of five of the historic Wapentakes have been re-used for the district councils established in 1974. This has caused endless headaches with Broxtowe, since there is a former council estate on the west side of Nottingham called Broxtowe, and a district council which stretches down the west side of the county from Eastwood to Stapleford also called Broxtowe.