Domesday Book

Compiled from the records of royal commissioners who in the summer of 1086 toured England to discover for King William I just what he had conquered and how much it was worth. The decision was made at Gloucester during the Christmas court of 1085. To its makers DB was known as Descriptio, a description. Sometimes it was referred to as Liber de Wintonia. It listed land and possessions: who owned what and what tax or dues were paid in 1066 (the end of Edward the Confessor's reign) and at the time of examination. All information was given on oath. However, it was by no means inclusive of every place in England. The findings were set out *county by county, though the north-east (later Northumberland and Durham) and much of the north-west (later Cumberland and Westmorland) were not surveyed; only parts of the border country of Wales were examined. Furthermore, several large towns were not included, e.g. London, Winchester and Bristol. The descriptions of Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex appear in a separate volume, Little Domesday. When finished DB had 382 folios, making 764 sides of writing; it had required the skins of 200 or more sheep. Little Domesday had 450 folios. DB was sometimes referred to as liber hidarum = the book of hides (the *hide being the basic unit of land used in its compilation). The name Domesday Book is to be found in the *Dialogus de scaccario: 'This book is called by the natives Domesday; that is, by metaphor, the day of judgement . . . when the book is appealed to its sentence cannot be scorned or avoided with impunity.' -

Cf. Domboc; TRE