The Domesday Book was originally commissioned by William the Conqueror in December 1805. The first draft of the Domesday Book was completed in August 1086, it contained 13,418 settlements in the English Counties.
In 1805, William the Conqueror commissioned a survey in order to discover the resources and taxable values of all the boroughs and manors in England. His aim was to discover how much was owed to him as king, in terms of tax, rents and military service. In spite of this, the Domesday book was considered much more than just a tax record as it is also a record of which manors belong to which estates. Providing the identity of the King’s tenants-in-chief.
Evidently, England had previously derived a sophisticated administrative system, built up by Anglo-Saxons which made it possible for the Domesday Book to be complied. The overall traditional view is that all those who were major landowners had to send to the king, a list of their tenants and manors. This was then compared with older data to be comprised into the new Domesday Book.
King William’s officials visited the area of Merseyside in 1086. At this point, the town was not yet known as Liverpool, but rather the ‘West Derby Hundred’ which covered the area of what is now known as Merseyside. At this point, Liverpool was a much smaller fishing area close to the River Mersey mainly filled by small wooden huts.
Researched by Laura Stewart
Language of Merseyside 3 