William the Conqueror, in an attempt to find out how much he owned and was owed in taxes, set about commissioning the Domesday Book in 1085 AD, and unwittingly created an iconic document. William’s curiosity led to the compilation of the most detailed survey of society in Western Europe at that time. An Anglo-Saxon monk wrote that the King, “…had much thought and very deep discussion about this country, how it was occupied and with what sort of people.”
Nicknamed “Domesday” Book by the native English, after God’s final Day of Judgment, the title was adopted by its official custodians, now The National Archives at Kew, West London. (Many genealogists refer to this book as the Doomsday Book. We prefer the original spelling of the time, which had the same connotation.)
Domesday Book is securely housed in The National Archives’ Museum in England, where it is cared for by a team of conservators. Light and humidity levels are carefully monitored but it is still on permanent view to the public free of charge.
Nick Barratt, medieval historian and a huge fan of Domesday Book says, “Any aspect of history can be found in Domesday. All human life is here.”
Domesday Book’s value to England’s heritage is unchallenged. Carenza Lewis, archaeologist and one of the jurors who thrashed out the top ten Finest Treasures said: “As a medieval landscape archaeologist, I use Domesday Book almost every day that I’m working. You can tell what the landscape was like 1000 years ago; you can reconstruct the landscape of all England at the end of the Anglo-Saxon period, which is phenomenal.”
So inspirational is Domesday Book that in 1986, to mark its 900th anniversary, the BBC, with the help of thousands of schoolchildren and teachers across the country, compiled a Domesday for the 1980s. It is testament to the enthusiasm aroused by the original Domesday that after BBC Domesday became obsolete and was believed to be lost, it was resurrected by Adrian Pearce, an independent enthusiast, with the backing of The National Archives and the BBC. “Domesday Community”, a PC version of the BBC Domesday was created with added features, and can now be viewed, free of charge, at The National Archives.