lso he caused to be written how much land his
archbishops had, and his suffragan bishops, and abbots, and earls; and
though I may narrate somewhat prolixly, what or how much each man had
who was a holder of land in England, in land, or in cattle, and how much
money it might be worth. So very narrowly he caused it to be traced out,
that there was not one single hide, nor one yard of land, nor even, it
is shame to tell, though it seemed to him no shame to do, an ox, nor a
cow, nor a swine was left that was not set down in his writ. And all the
writings were brought to him afterwards."

The commissioners appointed by the king, among whom were Remigius,
Bishop of Lincoln, and Walter Giffard, Earl of Buckingham, were to
inquire the following details concerning each parish:--

Its name. Who held it in the time of King Edward the Confessor. The
present possessor. Number of hides in the manor, number of ploughs, of
homagers, villeins, cottars, free tenants, tenants in socage; how much
wood, meadow, and pasture; number of mills and fishponds; the value in
the time of the last king; and its present value.

Such a survey was of immense value. Its object, according to the king,
was that every man might know and be satisfied with his rightful
possessions, and not with impunity usurp the property of others. But it
was also of great service to the king, so that he might know who were
his vassals, the amount of taxation which he could draw from them, and
the actual strength of his new kingdom.

The commissioners performed their work with much care and exactness. The
survey is wonderfully complete, and was compiled in a very short time.
It is of great value to the historians of subsequent ages. The writing
of the book is very clear and beautiful, the abbreviations alone
presenting some difficulty to an unaccustomed reader. No illuminations
adorn the text. At the head of each page the name of the county is
written in red ink. The book is preserved in an ancient chest in the
Public Record Office, where it was removed from the Chapter House at
Westminster.

As an example we may take the _Domesday_ description of the parish of
Barkham, which runs as follows:--

"IN CERLEDONE HD.

"Rex ten in dnio Bercheha. AElmer Tenuit de rege. E. Te 7 m iii hid.
Tra e iii car. In dnio e una, 7 vi uilli 7 iiii bord cu iii car. Ibi
v. ac pti. Silua de XL pore. Valuit iiii lib. T.R.E. 7 m: iii. lib."

TRANSLATION.

"In the hundred of Charlton.