1. Today achievement points will be awarded for…
R – Respecting the learning of your peers by helping someone who is needs it.
I – Remaining focused during independent learning exercises.
E – Putting outstanding effort into your classwork today.

2. Starter What are these three things? How might they be linked?5
What are these three things?
How might they be linked?
Hint: Think about what William might have wanted
to know after he was made King!

3. Learning Objective: To investigate why the Domesday book was important

4. By the end of this lesson…
ALL OF US will be able to describe what the Domesday book was (3a-4c) MOST OF US will be able to describe why the Domesday book was important (4b-4a) SOME OF US will be able to explain in detail the benefits of recording information in the Domesday book (5c-5b)

5. Rebel: To refuse to do what you are told – sometimes using aggression or violence.2

6. The Harrying of the North
William had won a great victory. But not everyone who opposed him was dead! Some decided to rebel. Between 1067 and 1070 William fought off many rebel armies. To end this, in the Winter of 1069, William took his army North, where most of the rebellions were taking place, and destroyed everything he came across – farms, houses, and people.

7. 20 years after the battle…

8. Why would he want to know as much as possible about his country?
Discussion Point
England is relatively settled and calm.
King William is able to look carefully at the country he has taken over.
Why would he want to know as much as possible about his country? 3

9. Task
It is 1086 and you are an advisor to William the Conqueror. He needs to find out as much as he can about England.
Put 1-5 in your margin and come up with five questions you could ask the people in England to find out more about them and what they have. Consider the following topics:
Land
Money
Religion
Possessions
Loyalty 10
3 minutes

10. What did they ask?
The inspectors asked the people of England some fixed questions such as what was the name of the town they lived in, how many men lived there, how many cows there were and so on. All of the answers were written down in the Domesday Books.

11. What does the Domesday book say about the village of Preston?
In PRESTON Hundred:
Preston is the size of 60 hides. There is enough land for 80 ploughs. The Lord himself has 8 ploughs; 200 villagers with 82 ploughs; A church; 6 slaves; 10 shepherds; a meadow, 84 acres; woodland with 100 pigs. Earl Richard holds 7 hides of this land; and a man-at-arms of his 1/2 hide.
Total value before 1066 £100; now in 1086 £80.
TASKS:
How many pigs are in the village?
How many people live in the village?
Make a list of the type of people that live in the village.
Name two jobs that people do apart from ploughing.
Work out the number of acres of land in the village. Remember one hide = 120 acres and one acre is about the size of a football pitch.
What do you think the woodland was used for?
Why do you think William was so interested in knowing the value of the land? 15

12. What were the benefits? Write the boxes below in order!
King William then knew how much
Money and land everyone had.
Because he knew how much
everyone had, he could take
more money in taxes.
Because King William was richer
he gave more
money to his loyal Barons.
King William’s Barons had more
money so could give him better
protection. 10
King William became richer
because he taxed people more.
King William
found out how much money
and land people had using the
Domesday book.

13. Question Write at least 6 lines to answer this question:
How did the Domesday book help King William keep control of England? 5
Think about:
- Why getting more money helped
- What he did with this money

14. Today’s Domesday book!
This is a census. People in Britain fill it out to give the government useful information.

15. BUT - You may only say one word at a time!
Plenary
Get into groups of three.
Try to come up with an answer to this question:
Why was the Domesday book important? 10
BUT - You may only say one word at a time!