Doomsday Book
The Doomsday Book was the first official record of the property holders living in England and the amount of land they held. The information was collected and recorded at the command of William the Conqueror in 1086, 20 years after the Normans had conquered the English at the Battle of Hastings. The properties of the great English landowners were confiscated by William and his followers.
William ordered the Doomsday survey to
find out how much land he owned, how the rest was divided, and how the land was
populated.
The kingdom was divided into districts. Each district supplied people who knew the
territory to take a census of their district. The census and the land survey covered most of the territory William controlled.
There was no survey of
London or Winchester, and information about regions in north of England is incomplete.
The Doomsday Book is considered the greatest public record of medieval Europe. It is
can be seen at the Public Record Office in London.
"1080 William the Conqueror gives Howden Manor to the Bishops of Durham"
In 1080 William the Conqueror gave the the church and manor of Howden (Hoveden), with all its income to his friend William de Carilef, whom he had just appointed Bishop of Durham, William de Carilef in turn gave the church to the Prior and Convent of Durham retaining the Manor for the himself.
The Manor remained in the Bishops of Durham possession until the reign of Edward VI, apart from two short periods when it was repossessed, once by King William (William Rufus) in 1087 and again by Henry I in 1089, this was after William had restored it to the Bishops just before his death.
In 1108 Henry once again returned the manor to the Bishops.
