The Domesday Survey

At Christmas 1085 William the Conqueror had “deep speech” with his council and, as a result, ordered a general survey of the land to be made. Historians have debated the purpose of this “Domesday” survey – some seeing it as primarily a tax assessment, others emphasising its importance as a basis for the assignment of feudal rights and duties. Its form owed much to Anglo-Saxon precedent, but within each county section it was organised on a feudal basis. It was probably a multipurpose document with the main emphasis on resources for taxation.

It was incomplete, for the far north of England, London and Winchester were not included, while the returns for Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk were not condensed into the same form as was used for the rest of the country. Domesday is a unique record and offers rich materials for research.

The lands of William de Warenne at the time of the Domesday Survey, 1086

The following is a list of those settlements in England with which William de Warenne – lord of Conisbrough and one of the greatest magnates of Norman England – had some right of ownership at the time of the survey (228 in total). In 1088 Earl William was made Earl of Surrey, a title which carried with it numerous other lands and possessions that are not recorded in the Domesday Survey as belonging to the Earl Warenne. The list is reproduced from the castle's original education pages.

Counties in which no de Warenne holdings are recorded in Domesday: Berkshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Devonshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Somerset, Surrey, Warwickshire, Westmorland, Wiltshire, Yorkshire (North & East Ridings).