Ouston Farm in the Domesday Book (1086)
Ouston Farm is named in the Domesday Book, compiled by Norman commissioners in 1086, entered under the hundred of Ainsty in Yorkshire. The survey assessed Ouston Farm at 10.6 carucates of taxable land.
At the time of the survey, Ouston Farm supported a recorded population of 1 villager, 42 smallholders, 8 slaves, working 6 ploughs between them.
Something went badly wrong here between the two surveys. Before 1066, Ouston Farm was worth 9.75 shillings; by 1086 that had dropped to 8.5 shillings – a fall of 12%. 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 3 manors at Ouston Farm 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 Ouston Farm (1086)
- Meadow: 91 acres
- Woodland: 2 swine render
Other Settlements in Ainsty
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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