3

The Wikipedia page on the Domesday Book (completed in 1086) states that the City of London, Winchester, Westmorland, Cumberland, Northumberland, the County Palatine of Durham and some other areas / towns were not covered for various reasons.

A survey of County Durham was done in 1183 (Boldon Book) but there is no indication as to whether other surveys of a similar (or even roughly similar) nature were done in England and Wales during the middle ages.

As the Domesday Book was frequently referred to over the following centuries in law courts (at least) and as one of the books was rebound in 1320 and again during Tudor times, it was presumably considered to be quite some value. If no such surveys were subsequently done, do we know why?

Improve this question
  • 1
    Related: history.stackexchange.com/questions/39335/… – Denis de Bernardy Oct 13 '17 at 11:13
  • Yes, I already checked it out. I know that the Domesday Book (shouldn't that be books?) was exceptional but I'm hoping that someone might know of smaller, regional / town surveys (similar to Boldon Book). – Lars Bosteen Oct 13 '17 at 11:43
  • 1
    On a smaller scale there sometimes were local registers that were used for tax purposes since the Roman times, so you might find other potentially interesting examples by looking into the history of tax registers and notarial acts. – Denis de Bernardy Oct 13 '17 at 12:15
  • 2
    @LarsBosteen No, it is book, singular, but it's bound in two volumes. The book contains the results of two surveys: "Great Domesday" and "Little Domesday", but these are integrated into the one "Domesday Book". – sempaiscuba Oct 13 '17 at 12:16
  • @ Denis de Bernardy. Your suggestion appreciated, I'll follow up on that. – Lars Bosteen Oct 14 '17 at 7:30

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.