Muchedeswelle in the Domesday Book (1086)

Muchedeswelle is named in the Domesday Book, compiled by Norman commissioners in 1086, entered under the hundred of Blackwell in Derbyshire. The survey assessed Muchedeswelle at 6.6 carucates of taxable land.

At the time of the survey, Muchedeswelle supported a recorded population of 6 villagers, 3 smallholders, 14 freemanmen, working 9 ploughs between them.

By 1086 Muchedeswelle was worth 3.2 shillings, up from 2.15 shillings before the Conquest – in contrast to many Yorkshire neighbours whose valuations collapsed.

The survey lists 3 manors at Muchedeswelle 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 Muchedeswelle (1086)

• Meadow: 8 None

Other Settlements in Blackwell

• Abney
• Ashford [-in-the-Water]
• Aston
• Bakewell
• Bamford
• Baslow
• Beeley
• Birchills
• Birchover
• Blackwell
• Bradwell
• Bubnell
• Burley
• Burton

The Meaning of the Name

The origin of the name Muchedeswelle is not securely established from its modern form alone; like many settlement names in the North it likely combines an Old English or Old Norse personal name with a landscape term.

Remarkably, the name has changed little since 1086, when the Domesday scribes wrote it as Muchedeswelle.