Mercaston in the Domesday Book (1086)
Mercaston is named in the Domesday Book, compiled by Norman commissioners in 1086, entered under the hundred of Litchurch in Derbyshire. The survey assessed Mercaston at 5.5 carucates of taxable land.
At the time of the survey, Mercaston supported a recorded population of 50 villagers, 3 smallholders, working 12 ploughs between them.
Something went badly wrong here between the two surveys. Before 1066, Mercaston was worth 30 shillings; by 1086 that had dropped to 20 shillings – a fall of 33%. 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.
Resources Recorded at Mercaston (1086)
- Mills: 1 mill (valued at 3d)
- Fisheries: 1
- Meadow: 120 acres
- Woodland: 6 * 4 furlongs
Other Settlements in Litchurch
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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