The ‘Hundred’ is an ancient division of the County of Suffolk – there are 21 – and is believed to relate to tribal groupings of the Iceni, the tribe later famously led by Boudicca in revolt against the Romans.
The first attempts to map the boundaries of the Suffolk Hundreds, using the landmarks of obvious watercourses, hills and even ancient trees, were in the 18th century. The Blything Hundred, the largest, corresponds closely to the drainage basin (with minor rivers) of the River Blyth stretching west in a triangular shape from Covehithe and Dunwich on the coast to inland Laxfield via Westleton and Cratfield.
It is this delineation that has been approximately adopted for the purposes of the Blyth Valley Experience.