 The name of the hundred derives from the name of the large royal estate (later expanded by Henry II to become the Royal Forest of North Petherton) that covered much of the area in 1086, recorded variously as "Nortpetret" in the Domesday Book, "Nortpedret" in Liber Exoniensis and "Nort Peretu" in the associated tax returns.This, in turn, was derived from the area's location to the northern end of the River Parrett.The hundred was administered from North Petherton, which had been the hundred meeting place and at the centre of the royal estate during Saxon times.