Galbraith, the making of domesday book oxford, 1961 e. The domesday book or, colloquially, domesday is the expression used since the late. An english translation of the latin text for most counties was published by victoria county history during much of. The book is also called as great survey for it covers the information in many parts of wales and england. Then, at the midwinter, was the king in gloucester with his council after this had the king a large meeting, and very deep consultation with his council, about this land. The precise purpose of the enterprise is not known but the most likely reason was to determine who legally owned what land, to settle disputes of ownership and to measure income, particularly agricultural income, in order to apply a future tax. Allexton, goscote, leicestershire ashby folville, goscote, leicestershire ashley, stoke, northamptonshire attercliffe, strafforth, yorkshire babraham, chilford, cambridgeshire show 186 more. The written record of a census and survey of english landowners and their property made by order of william the conqueror in. Conceived by william i, but probably to some extent based on preconquest administrative records, it was the most comprehensive assessment of property and land ever undertaken in medieval europe. The domesday book is a great land survey from 1086, commissioned by william the conqueror to assess the extent of the land and resources being owned in england at the time, and the extent of. Open domesday shows all the domesday places within 5 km. In the 11th century, surnames were still in a state of flux and many people still did not have what we would consider a.
The domesday book of 1086 lists in the following order the tenantsinchief in devonshire of king william the conqueror. The domesday book online frequently asked questions. The world of domesday exhibition depicts life in 11th century england. Domesday book is one of the most famous documents in english historyand arguably in world history.
Domesday book was compiled in ad 1086 for william the conqueror. Domesday is now available online, and you can search for your town or village, and download images of domesday along with an. Then sent he his men over all england into each shire. The record was compiled in 1086 1087, a mere twenty years after the norman conquest, at the order of william the conqueror. While spending the christmas time of 1085 in gloucester, william had deep speech with his counsellors and sent men all over england to each shire to find. Bowley, pevensey, sussex brownwich, titchfield, hampshire clavering, clavering, essex eldersfield, pershore, worcestershire herefordshire forthampton, tewkesbury, gloucestershire herefordshire. The national archives education service domesday book. Domesday book was a comprehensive survey and record of all the landowners, property, tenants and serfs of medieval norman england which was compiled in 10867 ce under the orders of william the conqueror r. This name is associated with 1 place before the conquest. Open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. The domesday book, our earliest public record, is a unique survey of the value and ownership of lands and resources in late 11th century england.
Domesday is now available online, and you can search for your town or village, and download images of domesday along with an english translation of the entry. The text of domesday book, the record of the great survey of england completed in 1086 executed for william i of england, was first edited by abraham farley in the 1770s. The most substantial change in this revised version of the original dataset 1a, 2007 is the addition of a single file ids. Open domesday the first free online copy of domesday book. The system of landholding as portrayed throughout the domesday book was based on a rigid social hierarchy called the feudal system, imposed in england by william the conqueror following his successful 1066 conquest. Tr introduction the first approach to a modern assessment roll or cataster is the well known. The bbc domesday project was a partnership between acorn computers, philips, logica and the bbc with some funding from the european commissions esprit programme to mark the 900th anniversary of the original domesday book, an 11thcentury census of england. Contents explore records for towns and villages from the domesday book landowners information about the landowners featured in the records of the domesday book domesday history events in the domesday book s history through the past 900 years. Map of domesday book circuits illustration ancient. Bates, a bibliography of domesday book woodbridge, 1986 v. Domesday book, the original record or summary of william is survey of england. The domesday book 1086 was essentially an economic census of england, completed during the reign of william the conqueror, to find out how much each landholder had in arable land and what that land was worth in terms of the taxes they used to pay under edward the confessor.
By contemporaries the whole operation was known as the description of england, but the popular name domesdayi. Although the domesday survey was made in 1086, the detail it preserves is crucial for historians of earlier periods. Hallam, domesday book through nine centuries london, 1986 a survey of how the domesday book has been used since its composition, and how antiquarians and historians have viewed the record. Now available in one volume, here is the complete, authoritative translation from the original latin, together with an index of places and a glossary of terms used. And then the production of domesday book itself was later. In 2011, the open domesday site made the manuscript available online. Great burstead was a settlement in domesday book, in the hundred of barstable and the county of essex. The existing literature on this remarkable memorial is so extensive, that it has not appeared advisable to quote largely from it. It contains the results of a huge survey of land and landholding commissioned by william i in 1085. Domesday book is a manuscript record of the great survey of much of england and parts of wales completed in 1086 by order of king william the conqueror. An extension of the latin and an english translation of the domesday book, as far as it relates to hampshire. Find out how to search for your town or village, and how to access images of domesday along with an english translation, using our research guide. The domesday inquest, which took place in 1086, produced documents like this. The domesday book was commissioned in december 1085 by william the conqueror, who invaded england in 1066.
Rather than being owned, as is the case nowadays, land was held from a member of society higher up the social tree. Domesday book was a comprehensive survey and record of all the landowners, property, tenants and serfs of medieval norman england which was compiled in 10867. Domesday book definition of domesday book by the free. The domesday book was compiled on the orders of william the conquerer to catalogue the ownership and value of land in the newly conquered territories of england. Domesday book synonyms, domesday book pronunciation, domesday book translation, english dictionary definition of domesday book. You can also access the discover domesday exhibition, explaining why domesday.
The first facsimile edition of the manuscripts was made in a project led by the cartographer henry james in the 1860s. Bowley, pevensey, sussex brownwich, titchfield, hampshire clavering, clavering, essex eldersfield, pershore, worcestershire herefordshire forthampton, tewkesbury, gloucestershire herefordshire show 5 more. The first draft was completed in august 1086 and contained records for,418 settlements in the english counties south of the rivers ribble and tees the border with scotland at the time. The first draft was completed in august 1086 and contained records for,418 settlements in the english counties south of the rivers ribble and. The domesday book or, colloquially, domesday is the expression used since the late twelfth century to refer to the record of the great inquisition or survey of the lands of england, their extent, value, ownership, and liabilities, made by order of william the conqueror in 1086. Surnames mentioned in the domesday book british surnames. Domesday book is a manuscript record of the great survey of much of england and parts of wales completed in 1086 by order of king william the. The site provides information about the 1086 domesday survey, the domesday book, background information on life in england at the time, links. Domesday book the domesday book or, colloquially, domesday is the expression used since the late twelfth century to refer to the record of the great inquisition or survey of the lands of england, their extent, value, ownership, and liabilities, made by order of william the conqueror in 1086. Facts about domesday book talk about a manuscript record created under the order of king william the conqueror. The immediate lord over the peasants after the conquest, who paid tax to the tenantinchief.
Domesday book the domesday book was a survey designed to record everything that people owned in england. Before william took it over, the land was owned by queen edith of wessex, who was the richest woman in england at the time. Translation, databases and scholarly commentary, 1086. One of the most important historical events of the medieval era is the domesday book. Learn more about out why and how domesday was created, and how to interpret it, in discover domesday.
It has been cited as an example of digital obsolescence on account of the physical medium used for data storage. In fact there are two domesday books little domesday and about england in the 11th century. Its purpose was to maximize the revenues from the land tax and it caused resentment and even riots. Note that the same name may not be the same person. It does not record names, nor does it give accurate population statistics, but it does give us an indication of the size of badsey, aldington and wickhamford. This page simply lists all places mentioned in domesday book. Allexton, goscote, leicestershire ashby folville, goscote, leicestershire ashley, stoke, northamptonshire attercliffe, strafforth, yorkshire babraham, chilford, cambridgeshire. It records the number of households, the economic resources, who owned the land, and. It was ordered by william the conqueror the winner of the recent battle of hastings so that william could determine how much money in taxes he could raise and to give william a better sense of the territory he had just conquered. It had a recorded population of 118 households in 1086, putting it in the largest 20% of settlements recorded in domesday. Uploaded by mark cartwright, published on 16 november 2018 under the following license. These pages can be accessed from the links in the bar above as you move around them.