Sawley in the Domesday Book (1086)
Sawley is named in the Domesday Book, compiled by Norman commissioners in 1086, entered under the hundred of Morleystone in Derbyshire. The survey assessed Sawley at 0.2 carucates of taxable land.
At the time of the survey, Sawley supported a recorded population of 3 villagers, 5 smallholders, 2 slaves, working 2 ploughs between them.
The survey records Sawley’s value at 1 shilling in 1086. No pre-Conquest figure survives – not unusual in the North, where records were disrupted by the Harrying and by the patchy coverage of the survey.