Rochdale in the Domesday Book (1086)
Rochdale is named in the Domesday Book, compiled by Norman commissioners in 1086, entered under the hundred of Salford in Cheshire. The survey assessed Rochdale at 4 carucates of taxable land.
Most significantly, Rochdale is recorded as waste in 1086 — land rendered uninhabitable and valueless. Before the Conquest, the settlement had been assessed at 5d; by 1086 that value had collapsed entirely. This pattern — prosperity before 1066, devastation by 1086 — is the unmistakable signature of the Harrying of the North, William I’s campaign of systematic destruction across Yorkshire in 1069–70.
The survey lists 2 manors at Rochdale 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.
Other Settlements in Salford
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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