Bishop Monkton in the Domesday Book (1086)
Bishop Monkton is named in the Domesday Book, compiled by Norman commissioners in 1086, entered under the hundred of Burghshire in Yorkshire. The survey assessed Bishop Monkton at 6.8 carucates of taxable land.
At the time of the survey, Bishop Monkton supported a recorded population of 32 villagers, 29 smallholders, 38 freemanmen, working 33 ploughs between them.
Something went badly wrong here between the two surveys. Before 1066, Bishop Monkton was worth 6 shillings; by 1086 that had dropped to 3 shillings – a fall of 50%. Most Yorkshire villages that lost value on this scale were swept up in the Harrying of the North – William’s scorched-earth campaign of 1069–70.
The survey lists 2 manors at Bishop Monkton under different lords. Splitting a single settlement between multiple tenants was common across the North – Saxon estates broken up and handed to William’s followers after 1066.
Resources Recorded at Bishop Monkton (1086)
- Mills: 4 mills (valued at 2.5 shillings)
- Meadow: 4.5 * 4.5 furlongs and 45 acres mixed measures
- Woodland: 2.5 * 2 leagues
Other Settlements in Burghshire
Data derived from the Open Domesday project (opendomesday.org), based on the Domesday Book dataset compiled by Professor J.J.N. Palmer and team. The Domesday Book (1086) is in the public domain.
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