The Doomsday Book

At a meeting of his Court in Gloucester at Christmas 1085, William the Conqueror ordered that a survey be undertaken of the country. He wanted to find out ''How many hundreds of hides were in the shire, what land the king himself had, and what stock upon the land; or, what dues he ought to have by the year from the shire.'' He wanted to know the potential for taxing the inhabitants of the land that he had conquered.

Places in today's Milton Keynes are recorded in the survey - which was completed within a year. Sir Frank Markham's "History of Milton Keynes and District" Volume 1 lists them in his chapter on The Normans. 



There is also book available which contains the results of the survey for Buckinghamshire. It is the "Doomsday Book: Buckinghamshire" volume in a series "History from the Sources", edited by John Morris, published by Phillimore. I bought both books in Central Milton Keynes.

The survey lists the owners of land. They may have derived an income from their land, but possibly never visited. All land was the King's, but he gave an interest in the land to his "tenants", they in turn gave lesser interests to other people. The Doomsday Book records entries - as for Hugh of Bolbec

"[In Seckloe Hundred] - In (Great) Linford - Hugh holds 2 hides and 1.5 virgates as one manor. Land for 2 ploughs; in Lordship 1. 5 villagers with 2 smallholders have 1 plough. Meadow there for 1 plough. The value is and was 20s; before 1066, 40s. Three thanes held the manor; they could grant and sell."

or for the Bishop of Bayeux 
"[in Moulsoe Hundred] - In (Little) Brickhill Thurstan holds 1 hide from the Bishop. Land for 1 plough, but there is no plough there, only 3 villagers with 2 smallholders. The value is and was 14s; before 1066, 20s. Alwin, Estan's man, held this manor; he could not grant or sell outside Brickhill, Estan's manor."

(translations from  "History from the Sources: Doomsday Book: Buckinghamshire - ed. John Morris)

A "Hide" was a unit of measurement designed originally to represent the amount of land sufficient to support a household. Although sometimes described as being 120 acres (49 hectares), it varied according to the nature of the land. One source says that "there was a tendency for land producing £1 of income per year to be assessed at 1 hide." A virgate was usually, but not always considered as a quarter of a hide.

The survey, undertaken 20 years after William led the invasion from Normandy, shows evidence that "to the victor go the spoils". The following list show where particular people had holdings, it is not signify that they held the whole of the property in that village. {Note - this is NOT an exhaustive list]

William's half brothers head our list -

Odo of Bayeux (Earl of Kent and Bishop of Bayeux)
- Little Brickhill

Robert, Count of Mortain
- Caldecote
- Lavendon
- Loughton
- Great Linford
- Wavendon
- Weston Underwood
- Woughton

Other Landholders included

Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances
- Clifton Reyes
- Emberton
- Lathbury
- Lavendon
- Little Linford
- Olney
- Sherington
- Simpson
- Stoke Goldington
- Tyringham
- Water Eaton
- Weston Underwood

Earl Hugh of Chester
- Shenley Church End
- Great Brickhill

Richard Ingania (the Artificer)
- Shenley Brook End

Urso of Bercheres
- Shenley Brook End

Gilbert Maminot, Bishop of Lisieux
- Brickhill

William, son of Ansculf
- Bradwell 
- Caldecote
- Chicheley
- Great Linford
- Hardmead
- Little Woolstone
- Milton Keynes
- Newport Pagnell
- Tickford
- Tyringham

Hugh of Bolbec
- Calverton
- Great Linford
- Hardmead
- Wavendon

Mainou (Manno) the Breton
- Loughton
- Stoke Hammond
- Wolverton (can I recommend Bryan Dunleavy's excellent book - Manno's Manor: A History of Wolverton)

My home

I live on the very modern estate of Furzton in Milton Keynes. Much of it was build in the 1980s and 1990s. The lake (which is superb for bird watching; or walking) was built to ensure that flooding down the Loughton Brook was avoided. But, as I've mentioned in earlier posts, it has a heritage going back before the Romans arrived. I live only yards from an iron age settlement - and the major Roman Road we now refer to as Watling Street is the Eastern boundary.

The map below (which if clicked expands), is a hand drawn map of the Furzton area from the 16th Century. In the top left hand corner is the small village of Shenley Brook End. The three streams which flow into today’s Furzton Lake can be seen. The most northerly is the stream which flows through Shenley Brook End, which now flows into the Lake near the car park in Shirwell Crescent. The second, which has the name “Chaldwell” under it – now runs through the northern part of Emerson Valley, meeting the lake at its most westerly point. The third now divides North Furzton from South Furzton. Alford bridge is where Watling Street crossed the main stream. It may be the same Hertford Bridge that Sir Frank Markham writes about as the scene of a robbery in June 1766 that led to the rector of Tingewicke pursuing and fatally shooting the highwayman. He was acquitted of manslaughter.