l men. A detailed survey of land holdings and the
productive worth of each was made in 1086. The English called it
the "Doomsday Book" because there was no appeal from it.

The survey revealed, for instance, that one estate had "on the
home farm five plough teams: there are also 25 villeins and 6
cotters with 14 teams among them. There is a mill worth 2s. a year
and one fishery, a church and four acres of meadow, wood for 150
pigs and two stone quarries, each worth 2s. a year, and two nests
of hawks in the wood and 10 slaves." This estate was deemed to be
worth 480s. a year.

Laxton "had 2 carucates of land [assessed] to the geld. [There is]
land for 6 ploughs. There Walter, a man of [the lord] Geoffrey
Alselin's has 1 plough and 22 villeins and 7 bordars [a bordar had
a cottage and a small amount land in return for supplying small
provisions to his lord] having 5 ploughs and 5 serfs and 1 female
serf and 40 acres of meadow. Wood [land] for pannage [foraging by
pigs] 1 league in length and half a league in breadth. In King
Edward's time it was worth 9 pounds; now [it is worth] 6 pounds."

Ilbert de Laci has now this land, where he has twelve ploughs in
the demesne; and forty-eight villani, and twelve bordars with
fifteen ploughs, and three churches and three priests, and three
mills of ten shillings. Wood pastures two miles long, and one
broad. The whole manor five miles long and two broad. Value in
King Edward's time sixteen pounds, the same now.

That manor of the town of Coventry which was individually held was
that of the Countess of Coventry, who was the wife of the earl of
Mercia. "The Countess held in Coventry. There are 5 hides. The
arable land employs 20 ploughs. In the demesne lands there are 3
ploughs and 7 bondmen. There are 50 villeins and 12 bordars with
20 ploughs. The mill there pay[s] 3 shillings. The woodlands are 2
miles long and the same broad. In King Edward's time and
afterwards, it was worth 22 pounds [440 s.], now only 11 pounds by
weight. These lands of the Countess Godiva Nicholas holds to farm
of the King."

The survey shows a few manors and monasteries owned a salthouse
or saltpit in the local saltworks, from which they were entitled
to obtain salt.

In total there were about 110,000 villani [former coerls regarded
as customary, irremovable cultivator tenants]; 82,000 bordarii;
7,000 cotarii and cotseti [held land by service of labor or rent
paid in produce], and 25,000 servi [landle