Clayton in the Domesday Book (1086)
Clayton is named in the Domesday Book, compiled by Norman commissioners in 1086, entered under the hundred of Ati’s Cross in Cheshire. The survey assessed Clayton at 5.9 carucates of taxable land.
At the time of the survey, Clayton supported a recorded population of 5 villagers, 18 smallholders, 5 slaves, working 8 ploughs between them.
By 1086 Clayton was worth 9.77 shillings, up from 5 shillings before the Conquest – in contrast to many Yorkshire neighbours whose valuations collapsed.
The survey lists 5 manors at Clayton 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 Clayton (1086)
- Cattle: 6
- Pigs: 14
- Sheep: 12
- Horses (cobs): 1
- Meadow: 15 acres
- Woodland: 10 pigs
Other Settlements in Ati’s Cross
The Meaning of the Name
The name Clayton is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Its final element derives from the Old English word tūn, a farmstead or village. The first element is most likely a personal name or an early descriptive term, now difficult to recover with certainty. Taken together the name probably meant something close to ‘a farmstead’.
Remarkably, the name has changed little since 1086, when the Domesday scribes wrote it as Clayton.
Clayton Today
Today Clayton lies within the administrative area of Flintshire.
Nearby Domesday Settlements
Other places recorded in the 1086 survey within a few miles:
Heritage Around Clayton
Photographs of churches, listed buildings and monuments in the vicinity, contributed by volunteers to the Geograph project and reused here under a Creative Commons licence.
© John S Turner · Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
© John S Turner · Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
© Natalia A McKenzie · Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Images © their respective photographers, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 and reused here with attribution. Photographs depict listed buildings, churches and monuments near this settlement and may show neighbouring villages.
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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