How was it made?

Collecting the information

The process of collecting the information to make Domesday Book was done in stages.

Stage 1	All Norman lords who had been given land by King William were asked to gather details about their lands. This information was sent to King William’s advisors.
Stage 2	King William then sent groups of officials to most parts of England to check the details that the Norman lords had sent in. They were also told to get even more information.
Stage 3	When they had finished questioning a village, the officials sent their findings to King William’s advisors. The findings may have been given to King William in August 1086.
Stage 4	All findings were written up into the two volumes of Domesday Book. Great Domesday was written by one scribe and checked by a second. They were told exactly what important details to include. They had to try and make sure that the same type of information was recorded for each place. Little Domesday was probably written first and it is the work of at least six scribes.

Click on the video clips to find out how this work was carried out. All the files contain the transcript as captions within the clips. In the QuickTime clips, make sure your player is set to reveal clips.

1m 17s	Clip 1: The role of the commissioners (link to transcript) Modem | Broadband Modem | Broadband
1m 25s	Clip 2: Questions, questions, questions! (link to transcript) Modem | Broadband Modem | Broadband
1m 22s	Clip 3: Compiling the information (link to transcript) Modem | Broadband Modem | Broadband
1m 06s	Clip 4: Day of Judgement! (link to transcript) Modem | Broadband Modem | Broadband