Naming of Boldon and Boldon Buke
THE DOMESDAY BOOK'A description made of all England- covering the lands of every shire
and the property of every magnate in fields, manors and men - whether
slaves or freemen, cottagers or farmers - in plough teams, horses and
other stock, in services and rent.' So wrote a monk in the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle about the Domesday survey.
WHY ? In a violent age William had a well earned reputation for ruthless efficiency both as a soldier and tax-collector. In the turbulent years following the Battle of Hastings, William had rewarded his chief barons with land confiscated from these landowners and from tens of thousands of lesser men. He now realised that he had little idea as to their exact holdings: this meant that it he was not raising as much geld as he might and also that he might not be able to spot any potential power-blocks that could be a focus for future rebellions. The Domesday ensured that all land holdings and tax liabilities were revealed;
THE Boldon Buke Although William Conquered north east England as far as the Scottish border, he did not include it in the Domesday, The reason for this seems to have been that his control of the area was somewhat tenuous and he did not dare send commissioners north of the Tees without an army to back them up, A century later, however, the Bishop of Durham, very much an independent power in the land, carried out a complete survey of the church lands under his control. One of the first places to be recorded in detail is Boldon , and throughout the rest of the book the phrase 'they pay taxes as at Boldon constantly occurs. The name 'Boldon Book' was therefore soon coined and has stuck to this day.
The
name derives from the Anglo-Saxon Bothal Don which means homestead hill
- a settlement on a hill. Boldon gives its name to the Boldon Buke of
1083. Instigated by Bishop Hugh Pudsey. The Boldon Buke was County
Durham's local version of the Domesay Book.
WHY ? In a violent age William had a well earned reputation for ruthless efficiency both as a soldier and tax-collector. In the turbulent years following the Battle of Hastings, William had rewarded his chief barons with land confiscated from these landowners and from tens of thousands of lesser men. He now realised that he had little idea as to their exact holdings: this meant that it he was not raising as much geld as he might and also that he might not be able to spot any potential power-blocks that could be a focus for future rebellions. The Domesday ensured that all land holdings and tax liabilities were revealed;
THE Boldon Buke Although William Conquered north east England as far as the Scottish border, he did not include it in the Domesday, The reason for this seems to have been that his control of the area was somewhat tenuous and he did not dare send commissioners north of the Tees without an army to back them up, A century later, however, the Bishop of Durham, very much an independent power in the land, carried out a complete survey of the church lands under his control. One of the first places to be recorded in detail is Boldon , and throughout the rest of the book the phrase 'they pay taxes as at Boldon constantly occurs. The name 'Boldon Book' was therefore soon coined and has stuck to this day.
