Twyford, Charndon, Winslow and Buckingham in the Domesday book

1066 and all This

The King of England, Edward the Confessor, died in January 1066. There were 3 contenders for the throne; Harold Godwin who was crowned Harold II, King of England, Harold Hadrada, the King of Norway who invaded the North and was defeated, and William Duke of Normandy.

Harold Hadrada of Norway invaded the North of England but was defeated by Harold II.

That left the throne of England under dispute between the Anglo-Saxon King Harold II and William Duke of Normandy.

In 1066, William decided to lay his claim for the throne of England, invading Sussex at Battle near Hastings, and defeating Harold ll. It is depicted in the Bayeux tapestry where it shows Harold being shot and killed by an arrow in the eye.

As a reward for their support and in exchange for taxes, William divided up the land between his friends and knights. Twyford and Charndon were given to Ralph Fougeres, his friend and fellow nobleman from Fougeres, Brittany, on the borders of Normandy. Fougeres was given numerous patches of land across the southern half of England. This spread guaranteed security and geographical spread of support for William.

By 1085 William was broke. He had spent a great deal of money securing his position such as the building of castles. These acted as a control and threat to the local Angles, plus his Tenants-in-chief, (principal barons and churchmen who held land directly from the King, this included Ralph Fougeres) who kept squabbling over their lands. But worst of all he was under threat of another invasion this time from Denmark.

William needed to know how much money he could raise

Hence:

The Domesday Book

Purpose of the Domesday Book (1086)

King William needed to cement claims on lands. Domesday was intended to help the settlement of disputes, confirmation of legal title, draw a line under the Conquest – but most historians agree that the principle concern of Domesday Book was royal revenue, and its main purpose was to increase it. It was ever thus!

It is worth noting the Domesday Book is a most remarkable detailed survey and nothing like it exists until the censuses of the 19th century.

Our entries

Below are the Domesday entries for Twyford and Charndon. It is understood Poundon was added in with another entry, but it is uncertain precisely which and how much related to Poundon specifically.

In relative terms Twyford was quite large and rich.

Twyford Domesday entry

Twyford was a settlement in Domesday Book, in the hundred of Mow and the county of Buckinghamshire.

It had a recorded population of 34 households in 1086, putting it in the largest 40% of settlements recorded in Domesday.

Land of Ralph of Fougères

Households

  • Households: 15 villagers. 10 smallholders. 9 slaves. ( Note a remarkably high number of slaves)

Land and resources

  • Ploughland: 18 ploughlands. 3 lord’s plough teams. 2 lord’s plough teams possible. 11 men’s plough teams.
  • Other resources: 6.0 lord’s lands. Meadow 3 ploughs. Woodland 100 pigs.

Valuation

  • Annual value to lord: 10 pounds in 1086; 8 pounds when acquired by the 1086 owner; 12 pounds in 106

Owners

Charndon Domesday entry

Charndon was a settlement in Domesday Book, in the hundred of Mow and the county of Buckinghamshire.

It had a recorded population of 33 households in 1086, putting it in the largest 40% of settlements recorded in Domesday.

Households

  • Households: 18 villagers. 11 smallholders. 4 slaves.

Land and resources

  • Ploughland: 10 ploughlands. 2 lord’s plough teams. 8 men’s plough teams.
  • Other resources: 2.0 lord’s lands. Meadow 2 ploughs.

Valuation

  • Annual value to lord: 8 pounds in 1086; 8 pounds when acquired by the 1086 owner; 9 pounds in 1066.

Owners

Winslow Domesday entry

For comparison Winslow was a settlement in Domesday Book, in the hundred of Mursley and the county of Buckinghamshire.

It had a recorded population of 25 households in 1086, putting it in the largest 40% of settlements recorded in Domesday.

Land of St Albans, abbey of

Households

  • Households: 17 villagers. 5 smallholders. 3 slaves.

Land and resources

  • Ploughland: 19 ploughlands. 3 lord’s plough teams. 1 lord’s plough teams possible. 15 men’s plough teams.
  • Other resources: 5.0 lord’s lands. Meadow 19 ploughs.

Valuation

  • Annual value to lord: 11 pounds 13 shillings and 2 pence in 1086; 11 pounds 13 shillings and 2 pence when acquired by the 1086 owner; 11 pounds 13 shillings and 2 pence in 1066.

Owners

Interpretation of Terminology

Households

The status of households depended on their land and resources. The largest groups recorded are:

  • Villagers and freemen: around 40% of households, were small-scale landholders, owning on average 30 acres of land, and two oxen for ploughing. *also: villani, socmani and franci homines)
  • Smallholders and cottagers: around 35% of households, who owned about 5 acres of land on average and might have had a share in the villagers’ plough teams. (also bordarii and cotarii)
  • Slaves: around 10% of households owned no land of their own, belonged to the lord, and may have also been used as ploughmen. (also servi)

Domesday records the heads of families, so the total population was probably around five times larger. Therefore population Charndon 145 and Twyford 125, It is uncertain if slave families were included: As a guide population of Twyford in 2020 about 550.

Land and resources

Arable land was recorded in different units, including:

  • Hide, a standard unit for tax purposes,representing about 120 acres. The amount of land that could support a household.
  • Ploughlands, carucates: A ploughland (terra carucis or carucata) was the taxable area that could be ploughed by eight oxen in a year.
  • Plough teams: Groups of eight oxen (which indicated how much land could be ploughed): sometimes belonging to the peasants and sometimes to the lord.
  • Virgate: a quarter of a hide.
  • Woodland: Usually quantified by the number of pigs it supported. About 15% of the country was forested in 1086.
  • Meadow and pasture: Used to graze animals, typically sheep.
  • Mills: Water mills were the main source of power besides oxen: more than 6,000 are recorded in Domesday.

Valuation

Most entries record the total annual value of the estate in 1066 and 1068. This was probably to help the Crown calculate how much tax the lord should be charged. One pound in 1068 is worth approximately £1,000 in 2020. (Based on National Archives conversion of £1.00 in 1278 was worth £729 in 2017)

Hundreds

Hundreds did not refer to the number 100s, but to districts like Parishes and Counties. Mow hundred was made up of 9 places including Charndon, Poundon and Twyford.

Name Households
[Steeple] Claydon 60
Marsh [Gibbon] 39
Twyford 34
Charndon 33
Padbury 29
Thornborough 25
Edgcott 21
Addington 19
Adstock 7
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