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HAMPSTEAD IS A PIGSTY.......
Residents of Hampstead might not be too
pleased to learn that their exclusive London village
once housed more pigs than people but this is just one
of the fascinating insights to be gained from reading
the Domesday Book.
After
the Norman invasion and conquest of England in 1066, the
Domesday Book was commissioned in December 1085 by order
of William The Conqueror. William needed to raise taxes
to pay for his army and so a survey was set in motion to
assess the wealth and and assets of his subjects
throughout the land. This survey was also needed to
asses the state of the country's economy in the
aftermath of the Conquest and the unrest that followed
it.
First
published in 1086,
it contains records for
13,418 settlements in the English counties south of the
rivers Ribble and Tees (the border with Scotland at the
time).
The information in the
survey was collected by
Royal commissioners who were
sent out around England. The country was split up into 7
regions, or 'circuits', with 3 or 4 commissioners being
assigned to each. They carried with them a set of
questions and put these to a jury of representatives -
made up of barons and villagers alike - from each
county. Once they returned to London the information was
combined with earlier records, from both before and
after the Conquest, and was then entered, in Latin, into
the final Domesday Book.
As well
as valuing assets, this fascinating document gives a
valuable insight into land use at the time, the life of
local landowners, and even disputes between neighbours.
By
studying individual entries it is possible to discover
that upmarket Hampstead in London had woodland
containing 100 pigs and was assessed as being worth 50
shillings. Brighton residents may enjoy fishing but how
many catch enough to pay their taxes? The Domesday Book
reveals that one Brighton landowner did exactly that -
with 4,000 herrings to be precise!
It
acquired
the name 'Domesday Book' because of the huge amount of
information that was contained in it. Indeed, it was
noted by an observer of the survey
that "there was no single
hide nor a yard of land, nor indeed one ox nor one cow
nor one pig which was left out". This led the
book to be compared to the Last Judgement, or
'Doomsday', described in the Bible, when the deeds of
Christians written in the Book of Life were to be placed
before God for judgement. The name 'Domesday Book' was
not adopted until the late 12th Century.
The Domesday Book is actually not one
book but two. The first volume (Great Domesday) contains
the final summarized record of all the counties surveyed
except Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk. For these three
counties the full, unabbreviated return sent in to
Winchester by the commissioners is preserved in the
second volume (Little Domesday), which, for some reason,
was never summarized and added to the larger volume.
Containing 413 pages, it is currently
housed in a specially made chest at London's Public
Record Office in Kew, London.
©
HUK
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