Each hundred had a 'fyrd', which acted as the local defence force and a court which was responsible for the maintenance of the frankpledge system.
[4] The Hundred of Whitstone consisted of the ancient parishes of: Batcombe, Croscombe, Ditcheat, Doulting, Downhead, Hornblotton, Lamyatt, East Pennard, Pilton, Pylle, Shepton Mallet, and Stoke Lane.
[5] The hundred courts were held at Cannard's Grave, a short distance to the south of the town of Shepton Mallet.
By the 19th century several different single-purpose subdivisions of counties, such as poor law unions, sanitary districts, and highway districts sprang up, filling the administrative role previously played by parishes and hundreds.
Although the Hundreds have never been formally abolished, their functions ended with the establishment of county courts in 1867[8] and the introduction of districts by the Local Government Act 1894.