  
|
Domesday Book
This is an entry for Dunwich, Suffolk, in the Domesday Book. At over 900 years old, Domesday is the earliest surviving public record and the foundation document of the National Archives. It is also the starting point for most local historians researching the history of their area.
At Christmas 1085 William the Conqueror ordered a great survey of land holding in England. This recorded who owned or lived on the land, what livestock they kept, how much the land was worth, and what taxes were owed to the Crown. It was nicknamed 'Domesday' by the native English, after God's final Day of Judgement when every soul would be judged and the verdict written in a book, with no right of appeal. An Anglo-Saxon described the making of Domesday Book:
"He sent his men all over England into every shire ... Also he had a record made of ... how much everybody had who was occupying land in England, in land or cattle, and how much money it was worth. So very narrowly did he have it investigated, that there was no single hide nor a yard of land, nor indeed (it is a shame to relate but it seemed no shame to him to do) one ox nor one cow nor one pig which was there left out, and not put down in his record: and all these records were brought to him afterwards."
The scale of the survey was unprecedented in Europe at the time, and not repeated in Britain until the census in the 19th century. Although its exact purpose is unclear, the Domesday Book records people's rights to land and their duties to give tax and military service.
There were originally 2 volumes of the book, Great Domesday and Little Domesday. These fill 913 pages and describe over 13,000 places in England and parts of Wales. The handwriting shows that a single clerk wrote most of Great Domesday, with a second clerk checking the work and adding notes. Little Domesday is a more detailed version for the counties of Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. It was the work of perhaps as many as 7 clerks.
The entry for Dunwich shows that it was one of the largest ports on the east coast, with a thriving fishing industry and around 3,000 residents. The 'gift' or tax it paid that year - 68,000 herrings - was more than that of any other Suffolk port. However, this entry also warns that Dunwich lost half of its farmland to erosion along the coast between 1066 and 1086.
In the next century, Dunwich became one of the most important towns in England. Its yearly payment to the Crown rose to £120 13s 4d and 24,000 herrings. By the 13th century, its international status as a trading centre was fading a bit. In the 14th century, the old port had to be abandoned. Over 400 houses were swept away in a single storm. In the 17th century, the sea washed out the high street and reached the market place. Records from the 19th and 20th centuries, such as the census and the Valuation Office survey, reveal a quite different community than that recorded in the Domesday Book. Today, Dunwich has a few cottages, a church, a pub, a small visitor centre and the ruins of a friary.
|
