Domesday book home the domesday book one of the most valuable records of the uks past history. The entry relating to the ownership of land in the parish of aston cantlow and the surrounding area is shown below. The old village of northfield nordfeld was described in the domesday book as having a priest as well as seven villeins, sixteen borders, six cottars, who shared enough land for thirteen ploughs, two serfs and a bondswoman a slave. The default is a single entry but there is an option to change this on the print and export forms.
Can i export or print more than one entry at a time. Birmingham was a settlement in domesday book, in the hundred of coleshill and the county of warwickshire. Bakewells entry in the domesday book 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 the taxes he could raise. The site has been inhabited from the 12th century and according to the domesday book, was part of the estate of william fitz. By contemporaries the whole operation was known as the description of england, but the popular name domesdayi. As most people tend to look at domesday simply for their entry, they dont tend to question the document as a whole. The saxon hide was a theoretical unit of land required to support a family farmstead, but by the late saxon period, it had become a unit of taxation and hence was a fiscal unit rather than signifying a specific area. Birmingham appears in the domesday book among the lands belonging to william fitz ansculf, a major local landholder based at dudley castle. Domesday was compiled in a matter of months in at the end of william the conquerors life. Working with information from the bbc s first click and domesday projects, schools will run intergenerational workshops. This edition employs the unique numbering system of the phillimore edition where each separate entry or block of text is numbered.
The domesday book was compiled somewhere between 1085 and 1086 ad on the command of king william i of england, and is the result of a painstaking economic and social survey that was undertaken at that time. Bakewells name is said to derive from the warm springs in the area the domesday book entry calls the town badequella. Evidence from the domesday book shows a thinly occupied area worth little for tax purposes. Image from the open domesday website see acknowledgements. Domesday book placename forms all the original spellings of english placenames in domesday book link to pdf file. Part of the domesday book the page size is actually 38cm x 28cm. Delchard is a norman soldier who fought at the battle of. Domesday book gloucestershire entry for lasborough the main unit of measurement used in the domesday book as a whole was the hide.
The little domesday book s entries actually contain more information than the entries in the great domesday book which highlights. The domesday book lists ralph of bromwich as the lord of the manor. 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. 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. A brief history of birmingham history of birmingham places a to y. The ancient hamlet is centred on church hill around the junction of scotland lane and frankley lane and still nestles in countryside, with bartley green 1950s, and woodgate c1970 to the north, and modern frankley early 1970s to the south. The domesday book is closely linked with william the conquerors attempt to dominate medieval england. Can i view entries adjacent to those retrieved by a search.
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. The domesday book legal definition of the domesday book. Professor john palmer of hull university, george slater and anna powellsmith. Hook norton brewery, brewery lane, hook norton, banbury ox15 5ny, uk. The domesday book compiled in 10856 is one of the few historical. It is based on a systematic examination of the available written sources for the period, including chronicles, saints lives, charters, libri vitae, inscriptions, domesday book and coins. The text below is about the book and how it describes what is now birmingham the. The record was compiled in 10861087, a mere twenty years after the norman conquest, at the order of william the conqueror. The domesday book was commissioned in december 1085 by william the conqueror, who invaded england in 1066. Ralph delchard and gervase bret are commissioners, appointed by william the conqueror, to look into the serious irregularities that come to light during the compilation of domesday book, the great survey of england. They contain entries for each hereditament property that can be inherited in england and. Yes, use filtering by clicking the filter button a tick superimposed on a text page. There are fiftythree entries, including the first entry for the king himself followed.
The following pages include domesday placenames and landowners, and beneath some are links to websites containing the local history of that place. In 1086 the domesday book was put together to give king william information about all the lords and their manors. Information for visitors about the weoley castle ruins site in birmingham. The domesday book is one of medieval englands greatest treasures. As no records of the placename exist from the anglosaxon period, only the entry for bermingham in the domesday book of 1086 beorma is the most often imputed form of the name of the founder of birmingham. The domesday book is actually not one book but two. Bbc school report pilot domesday project in birmingham.
A brief history of birmingham history of birmingham. A number of alternative names have been put forward including bearm, berm, beor, bearma, beorm and breme, based on the fact that the city. The books follow ralph delchard and gervase bret, who are two officials who have been commissioned by william the conqueror william i of england to look into some inconsistencies that have arisen while compiling the domesday book. Birmingham in the domesday book document 161k transcript citizenship at the time of domesday. See our entry for highters heath for more about the uses of heathland in olden times. The manor is listed in the domesday book with smethwick and tipton as part of the manor of lichfield, a holding of the bishop of chester. On 14 october 1066 william, duke of normandy defeated the anglosaxon king harold at the battle of hastings. The origins of harborne are buried deep in history. The little domesday book covers the territory of norfolk, suffolk, and essex. Castle bromwich in the domesday book birmingham history. Whichever city really is the largest, theres no argument that birmingham has come a long way since its domesday book entry in 1086. Analysis of the domesday book 1086 suggests a national population of some 1. Domesday book of 1085 badequella bakewell, derbyshire. This entry tells us that there was a church in northfield before the norman church of st laurence was built.
Very quick read and goes into reasonable detail of the time it is set in ie the writing of the domesday book very interesting piece of. The domesday book was an ancient record of the whole country. Early history northfield local history birmingham city. Uploaded by the open domesday project, released under ccbysa by professor john palmer and george slater. An entry in the domesday book of 1086 provides the earliest mention of a settlement. The normans castle bromwich history for young people.
Bbc world service learning english beyond the postcard. When the domesday survey was commissioned, birmingham was a small village, and no free men are listed in the manor. It would be churlish to suggest that i am rubbishing the document, of course i am not, but some general understanding of the book is needed to give. If you have a local history site that you would like to be included on these pages please get in touch via the contact page. We associate citizenship with towns, but there is little evidence of townbased citizenship at the time of domesday.
Detail from domesday book, list forming part of the first page of kings holdings. Domesday book was a comprehensive survey and record of all the landowners, property, tenants and serfs of. The first draft was completed in august 1086 and contained records for,418 settlements in the english counties south of the rivers ribble and. In the demesne is 1, and there are 5 villeins and 4 borders with 2 ploughs. On their home page, select domesday book tab, enter judith in names box, and countess in description box. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Most of the manors around birmingham now had norman lords, including castle bromwich. Commercial site with extracts from domesday book domesday book entries including translations for each settlement. This is the first of edward marstons medieval books ive read and i thoroughlly enjoyed it. Early history harborne local history birmingham city council.
The domesday book entry for northfield lists a priest here in 1086 and a roundarched norman doorway survives from this period. Domesday book is one of the most famous documents in english history. Domesday book extracts makes available over 8,500 fascinating extracts featuring the actual page entry for your town, a translation and glossary. By contemporaries the whole operation was known as the description of england, but the popular name domesday i.
There is a super website called the prosopography of anglosaxon england database project by kings college london and cambridge university. The national archives exhibitions citizenship birmingham. Later some of the larger houses in harborne were built close by. Along with a string of castles throughout england, the domesday book was to give william huge authority in england.
Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Commissioned by william the conqueror in the year 1085 and finished in 1086, the book is a superb example of thorough and speedy administration, unequaled by any other project undertaken during the middle ages. Ralph delchard, a soldier and gervase bret, a lawyer, in 11th century england, in the domesday series. The information from the little domesday book may not have been included in the main book because william died before it could be done. The chancel is in the early english style of the thcentury, though much of the church dates the 15th century. These were little domesday covering norfolk, suffolk, and essex, and great domesday covering much of the remainder of england except for lands in the north which later became westmorland, cumberland, northumberland, and the county palatine of.
William was a norman, but had settled in england before the conquest. Domesday book encompasses two independent works in, originally, two physical volumes. Birmingham in the domesday book the national archives. It is not absolutely certain that the bromwich found in william the conquerors domesday survey of 1086 is castle bromwich. One of the most important accounts of the making of the domesday book is that of an anglosaxon chronicler who tells us that william had much though and very deep discussion about this country how. The domesday series is a series of historical mystery novels by welsh author edward marston keith miles. The entry for harborne in the domesday book is highlighted here as one of the manors of lichfield belonging to the bishop of chester. Domesday 315 sutton coldfield local history research group. Cancelled until further notice due to current health advice.
Bbc school report has an exciting opportunity for schools in birmingham to get involved with their communities. From william, richard holds four hides in birmingham. To further extend his grip on england, william i ordered that a. It is believed that st peters church was founded during the th century, and the land close to it would have been an early area of settlement. As this page also shows, there were still pockets of continued saxon landholding in the area around birmingham, notably under godmund of. The name domesday book was not adopted until the late 12th century. The information collected was recorded by hand in two huge. Domesday book, the original record or summary of william is survey of england. Before 1066 many birmingham manors had belonged to earl edwin, the anglosaxon lord of mercia, and had anglosaxon lords of the manor. Early history harborne local history birmingham city. The domesday book records the manor of franchelie, whose name derives from the old english francas leah meaning francas clearing. It had a recorded population of 9 households in 1086, putting it in the smallest 40% of settlements recorded in domesday.
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