The Domesday Book

Some twenty years after the Battle of Hastings, William I commissioned a Great Survey to ascertain the wealth of his new realm. The manuscript was completed in 1086. It records the annual value of every piece of land, who holds it, and its resources of manpower and livestock. The manuscript later became known as the Domesday Book. The passage for the manor of Mortlake, which included present day East Sheen, Putney and Wimbledon, is reproduced below alongside a translation of the text.