The Chinnocks are three villages in Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, England, south west of Yeovil

Yeovil

Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...

 in the South Somerset

South Somerset

South Somerset is a local government district in Somerset, England.The South Somerset district covers and area of ranging from the borders with Devon and Dorset to the edge of the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approximately 158,000...

 district:

• East Chinnock
  East Chinnock
  The Chinnocks are three villages in Somerset, England, south west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district:*East Chinnock*Middle Chinnock*West Chinnock...
  
  
• Middle Chinnock
• West Chinnock
  West Chinnock
  West Chinnock is a village in Somerset, England, situated near the A356 road north east of Crewkerne in the South Somerset district. The village forms the civil parish of West and Middle Chinnock with the neighbouring village of Middle Chinnock. The parish has a population of 564 .Middle...
  
  

The origin of the name Chinnock is uncertain. It may be derived from the Old English cinu meaning ravine or cinn meaning a chin shaped hill, with the addition of ock meaning little. An alternative derivation may be an old hill-name of Celtic origin.

The three villages have been separate since at least 1066. East Chinnock and West Chinnock are some 3 km apart. Middle Chinnock is close to West Chinnock, and since 1884 has been in the civil parish of West Chinnock, now named West and Middle Chinnock.

The parish was part of the hundred of Houndsborough

Houndsborough (hundred)

The Hundred of Houndsborough is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, dating from before the Norman conquest during the Anglo-Saxon era although exact dates are unknown. Each hundred had a 'fyrd', which acted as the local defence force and a court which...

.