Barton-le-Clay in 1086

Domesday Book was commissioned by William the Conqueror (1066-1087) at Christmas 1085. It was designed to show who held every piece of land in the newly conquered Kingdom of England. It was known colloquially as the Domesday Book because it was seen as being as final as the Last Judgement and as difficult to conceal things from. The book does not cover the whole country - Cumberland, Durham, Northumberland, and Westmorland were omitted and London and Winchester likewise, along with some other towns. A separate book, called Little Domesday covered the counties of Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk and, despite its name, it is actually bigger and more detailed than the Great Domesday Book containing the other counties.

In 1086 all Barton-le-Clay was in the hands of the Abbey of Saint Benedict’s at Ramsey [Huntingdonshire]. The holding comprised eleven hides and included woodland for two hundred pigs and a mill, which would have been a watermill since windmills would not be known in England for about another century.

The holding included twenty villagers, seven smallholders and six slaves, thirty three people. This number represents the heads of household. To get an idea of the total population it is probably necessary to multiply this figure by a factor of at least four suggesting a total population to somewhere around 130, a very decent sized settlement for this date.

In 1066, when the abbey already owned the holding, it had been worth £12, which had dropped to £10 by 1086. This might have been due to minor damage by King William’s army as it journeyed north or east to put down rebellion, perhaps the holy nature of the owner prevented more significant degradation.

Domesday Book notes that the abbey claimed twelve acres of meadow which had been part of the holding in 1066 but had since been taken by one of Bedfordshire’ principal landowners, Nigel de Albini (or d’Aubigny) and Walter the Fleming. This had been taken from the abbey wrongfully, as Domesday records the Hundred testifying, by one John des Roches. This character also misappropriated land in Maulden which Nigel came to hold.