The Twickenham Museum
Timeline : 1000 - 1100

Domesday Book - Isleworth
70 hides or households
1086

Isleworth entry on Folio 130 from the Domesday Book
The Hounslow Hundred In 1086 Twickenham formed part of the Manor of Isleworth which with the Manor of Hampton (which included Teddington) were part of the Hundred of Hounslow. In the south of England the Hundreds were administrative divisions of the Shire. Both manors had belonged to Earl Aelfgar in the time of King Edward but were granted to Walter de Saint-Valery by William after the conquest.

The TranslationWALTER de Saint-Valery holds ISLEWORTH. It has always
been assessed at 70 hides. There is land for 55 ploughs. In
demesne [are] 6½ hides, and there are 6 ploughs. Among the
Frenchmen and the villans [are] 28 ploughs and there could be
11 more. There a priest has 3 virgates, and [there are]
51 villans each on 1 virgate, and 24 villans each on half a
virgate, and 18 villans each [on] half a virgate, and 6 cottars.
The Frenchmen and a certain Englishman [have] 4 hides, and
they are proven knights. Under them dwell
12 villans and bordars and 6 of the lord's villans who
hold 2 hides and half a virgate. There are 2 mills
rendering 10s, meadow for 20 ploughs, pasture for the
livestock of the village, 1½weirs rendering 12s 8d, [and]
woodland for 500 pigs. From the herbage, 12d. In all it is
worth £72; when received, the same; TRE £80. Earl Aelfgar held this manor.


Acknowledgement: Folio image and translation with kind permission of Alecto Historical Editions.

Glossary

Hide - the amount of land which would support a household.

Virgate - one-quarter of a hide.

Demesne - land whose produce is devoted to the Lord rather than his tenants.

Vill - the unit of local administration at its lowest level: representing an area of land but not necessarily a village.

Villan - a peasant of higher economic status than a bordar and living in a village.

Bordar - a cottager, peasant of lower economic status than a villan.

Cottar - a cottager.

TRE - Tempore Regis Edwardi - in the time of King Edward ie before the Conquest.

What is the Domesday Book?

Domesday Book is the first and most detailed census made in England. It was made as a result of the Norman Conquest and was used as a source of information on land and property ownership following the Norman settlement of England. It provided the new ruling group, King William and his heirs, the barons and church leaders, with information vital for them to govern efficiently.

The Anglo Saxon Chronicle written in 1085 states:

Then he (King William) sent his men over all England into every shire and had them find out how many hundred hides there were in the shire or what land and cattle...how much land the archbishops had, and his bishops and his abbots and his earls...how much everybody had who was occupying land in England, in land and cattle and how much money it was worth.

So very narrowly did he have it investigated, that there was no single hide nor virgate of land, nor indeed...one ox nor one cow nor one pig which was there left out...


References:

Domesday Book - A Complete translation, Penguin Books.
The complete, authoritative translation from the original Latin of Domesday Book, together with an index of places and a glossary of terms used.

Digital Domesday on CD-ROM for Windows, Alecto Historical Editions available from GetMapping PLC.
A fully searchable translation of the original with indexes to place names and people.

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