DOMESDAY BOOK, the register of the lands of England, framed by order of King William the Conqueror. It was sometimes termed Rotulus Wintonia, and was the book from which judgment was to be given upon the value, tenures, and services of the lands therein described. The original is comprised in two volumes, one a large folio, the other a quarto. The first begins with Kent, and ends with Lin colnshire; is written on three hundred and eighty-two double pages of vellum, in one and the same hand, in a small but plain character, each page haying a double column ; it contains thirty-one counties. After Lincolnshire (fol. 373), the claims arising in the three ridings in Yorkshire are taken notice of, and set tled; then follow the claims in Lincoln shire, and the determination of the jury upon them (fol. 375); lastly, from fol. 379 to the end there is a recapitulation of every wapentake or hundred in the three ridings of Yorkshire : of the towns in each hundred, what number of carucates and ox-gangs are in every town, and the names of the owners placed in very small character above them. The second vo lume in quarto, is written upon four hun dred and fifty double pages of vellum, but in a single column, and in a large fair character, and contains the counties of Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk. In these counties the " liberi homines" are ranked separate : and there is also a title of" In vasions super Regem." These two volumes are preserved, among other records of the Exchequer, in the Chapter House at Westminster : and at the end of the second is the fol lowing memorial, in capital letters, of the time of its completion : " Anno Millesimo Octogesimo Sexto ab Incarnation Do mini, vigesimo vero regni Willielmi, facts est ista Descriptio, non solum per hoe tree Comitatns, sed etiam per alios." From internal evidence there can be no doubt but that the same year, 1086, is assign able as the date of the first volume.
In 1767, in consequence of an address of the House of Lords, George III. gave directions for the publication of this Sur vey. It was not, however, till after 1770 that the work was actually commenced. Its publication was intrusted to Mr. Abra ham Farley, a gentleman of learning as well as of great experience in records, who had almost daily recourse to the book for more than forty years. It was
completed early in 1783, having been ten years in passing through the press, and thus became generally accessible to the antiqnar7 and topographer. It was printed in fac-simile, as far as regular types, assisted by the representation of particular contractions, could imitate the original.
In 1816 the commissioners upon the Public Records published two volumes supplementary to Domesday, which now firm one set with the volumes of the Record: one of these contains a general introduction, accompanied with two dif ferent indexes of the names of places, an alphabetical index of the tenants in capite, and an " Index Rerum." The other con tains four records; three of them, namely, the Exon Domesday, the Inquisitio Eli ensis, and the Liber Winton., contempo rary with the Survey; the other record, called • Boldon Book,' is the Survey of Durham, made in 1183, by Bishop Hugh Pudsey. These supplementary volumes were published under the superintend ence of Sir Henry Ellis.
Northumberland, Cumberland, West morland, and Durham were not included in the counties described in the Great Domesday ; nor does Lancashire appear under its proper name ; but Furness, and the northern part of that county, as well as the south of Westmorland and part of Cumberland, are included within the West Riding of Yorkshire : that part of Lancashire which lies between the rivers Ribble and Mersey, and which at the time of the Survey comprehended six hundreds and a hundred and eighty-eight manors, is subjoined to Cheshire. Part of Rntlandsh ire is described in the coun ties of Northampton and Lincoln ; and the two ancient hundreds of Atiscross and Existan, deemed a part of Cheshire in the Survey, have been since transferred to the counties of Flint and Denbigh. In the account of Gloucestershire we find a considerable portion of Monmouthshire included, seemingly all between the rivers Wye and Usk. Kelham thinks it proba ble that the king's commissioners might find it impossible to take any exact sur vey of the three counties northernmost of all, as they had suffered so much from the Conqueror's vengeance. As to Durham, he adds, all the country between the Tees and Tyne had been conferred by Alfred on the bishop of this see, and at the com ing in of the Conqueror he was reputed a count-palatine.