The Potteries in 1086: Domesday Book Records of Stoke-on-Trent

 

In 1086, when the Domesday Book was compiled, the Potteries did not exist. Instead, the area consisted of a handful of small farming settlements such as Penkhull, Wolstanton, Trentham and Burslem, separated by fields, woodland and rough pasture.

  • The population was tiny by modern standards. Most people lived in simple timber-framed houses with thatched roofs and worked the land. Oxen pulled ploughs across open fields, while cattle, sheep and pigs grazed on common land and in the surrounding woods.

  • The River Trent and its tributaries provided water, while dense woodland supplied timber, fuel and grazing for livestock. Tracks linked the scattered villages, but there were no towns, factories, canals or railways.

  • Only twenty years had passed since the Norman Conquest, and much of the land had recently come under the control of Norman lords. Life, however, remained largely agricultural and little changed from Saxon times.

  • The famous pottery industry for which the district later became known would not emerge for hundreds of years. The landscape of 1086 was one of small rural communities surrounded by open countryside – a world very different from the city of Stoke-on-Trent that would develop centuries later.


Reconstruction of an Anglo-Saxon village 

Small settlements such as Penkhull, Wolstanton and Burslem would have consisted of timber-framed buildings with thatched roofs surrounded by fields and woodland.


A Saxon farmer at work in 11th C. England

Most people living in the area in 1086 would have worked on the land, cultivating crops and tending livestock.
The Anglo-Saxon village reconstruction is reproduced from material published by the Seaton Ross History Group. The Saxon farmer illustration is reproduced from material published by English Heritage. Copyright remains with the original creators. 



At a Glance: The Stoke-on-Trent Area in 1086 and Today
Feature 1086 (Domesday Book) Today
Administrative area Pirehill & Totmonslow Hundreds City of Stoke-on-Trent (plus surrounding Staffordshire districts)
Settlement pattern Scattered manors and farming hamlets Continuous urban area with six historic towns
Largest settlements Penkhull, Wolstanton, Trentham, Stoke Stoke-on-Trent urban area (~250,000+ population)
Economy Agriculture (arable farming, livestock, woodland use) Manufacturing, services, retail, education, heritage tourism
Population A few thousand across the whole district (estimated) Over 250,000 in the city area
Landscape Woodland, open fields, heath and marsh Urban landscape with parks, housing and industrial legacy sites
Transport Tracks, footpaths and river crossings Road, rail and canal network
Industry None recorded (domestic craft only) World-famous pottery and ceramics industry (plus diverse modern economy)

 


 

Domesday and Stoke-on-Trent

The map below highlights Domesday settlements within the area that would eventually become Stoke-on-Trent, plotted on Dr Plot's map of North Staffordshire (c.1670). 

The accompanying table summarises the ownership, population and resources recorded for each settlement in the 1086 Domesday Survey.

 


Dr Plot's map of North Staffordshire c. 1670 with the locations 
from the the 1086 Domesday survey highlighted

Of what would become the six towns of the city of Stoke-on-Trent only Burslem and Fenton are in existence at the time of the Domesday survey.

Included in the description of Caverswall is a mention of a church at Stoke but no description of any land or settlement, the church would have served nearby Penkhull.

Included in the description of Rushton is a mention of Hulton. The abbey there would not be built until over 130 years later (1223).  

 

Barlaston
Bradeley
Bucknall
Burslem
Caverswall
Clayton
Dimsdale
Endon
Fenton
Hanchurch
Hanford
Hulton (Abbey)
Knutton
Normacot
Norton
Penkhull
Rushton (Grange)
Stoke (-upon-Trent)
Trentham
Weston (Coyney)
Wolstanton

 

 

 

Summary of the survey.. 

The table below summarises the Domesday Book entries for settlements within the area of modern Stoke-on-Trent. It records the number of households, the amount of ploughland, the size and value of each manor, and the landholder responsible for it in 1086. The entries are grouped according to the principal landowners recorded in the survey.

  • Note: Domesday Book was compiled primarily as a survey of taxable wealth rather than a census. Household figures represent only recorded heads of households and do not include every inhabitant. Actual populations were therefore considerably larger than the figures appear to show at first glance.

  • When Domesday records (for Penkhull): 17 villagers and 6 smallholders with 8 ploughs
    it is not counting every individual living there. It is recording the principal male heads of households (or at least the taxable agricultural households).

  • In this example: 17 villagers (villani) = relatively substantial peasant farmers; 6 smallholders (bordars or bordarii) = smaller tenants with less land. - Total recorded households = 23.

  • Each household would typically include: a husband and wife, children, cometimes elderly relatives, occasionally servants or labourers.
    Therefore, a settlement recorded with 23 households might actually have had a population somewhere in the region of 80–120 people, depending on household size - so Penkhull's recorded 17 villagers and 6 smallholders would likely make it one of the larger settlements in the district, perhaps supporting around 100 inhabitants.
    By contrast, a place like Burslem with only 5 recorded households may have contained only 20–30 people.

 

 

'Land of the King...'
Settlement Households Plough lands Size Land type Value Held by

BUCKNALL

[BVCHENOLE] 

 Land for 3 ploughs third part of a hide Ketel

ENDON  

[ENEDVN] 

Land for 1, or 2 ploughs Dunning

PENKHULL

[PINCHETEL] 

17 villagers and 6 smallholders with 8 ploughs. Land for 11 ploughs. In lordship 2; 2 hides, with its dependencies

Meadow, 2 acres;

Woodland 1 league long and 2 furlongs wide. 

Value £6. Earl Algar

TRENTHAM  

[TRENHAM] 

5 villagers with 1 smallholder and a reeve have 3½ ploughs. 

A priest and a freeman have 2 ploughs; 

3 villagers and 6 smallholders with 1 plough.

 Land for 3 ploughs. In lordship 1; 1 hide. Woodland 1 league long and ½ wide. Value before 1066, 100s; now 115s. Earl Algar 

WOLSTANTON

[WLSTANETONE]

In lordship 2 ploughs;

14 villagers and 2 smallholders with a priest have 8 ploughs.

2 hides, with its dependencies Woodland 1 league long and 1 furlong wide. Value before 1066, 100s; now £6

 

'Land of Robert of Stafford...'
Settlement Households Plough lands Size Land type Value Held by

BARLASTON 

[BERNVLVESTONE]

4 villagers and 3 smallholders with 1 plough.

In lordship 1, with 1 slave;

 Land for 6 ploughs.  ½ hide  Meadow, 6 acres; woodland 3 acres. Value 40s. Helgot  / Augustine 
Robert also holds ½ hide in BARLASTON, and Helgot from him. Augustine held it; he was a free man. 

BURSLEM 

[BARCARDESLIM]   

1 villager and 4 smallholders with 1 plough. Land for 2 ploughs. Alder grove, 2 acres. Value 10s.

Wulfgeat /

Alfward 
Robert holds the third part of 1 hide himself in BURSLEM. Alfward held it; he was a free man. 
BRADELEY [BRADELIE] In lordship 1; 3 slaves; 3 villagers and 6 smallholders with 2 ploughs Land for 4 ploughs.  Meadow, 4 acres; woodland 2 leagues long and 1 wide Value 40s. Tanio / Wulfgeat / Alfward 
Robert also holds in BRADELEY ½hide. Tanio holds from him. Wulfgeat and Alfward held it; they were free. 

CAVERSWALL 

[CAVRESWELLE] 

 In lordship 1; 10 villagers and 2 smallholders with 3 ploughs. Land for 4 ploughs 1 virgate of land.  Meadow, 6 acres; woodland 1 league long and ½ wide Value 30s. Arnulf / Wulfgeat

Arnulf holds from him. Wulfgeat held it; he was a free man.

A half of Stoke(-on-Trent) [STOCHE] Church, with 1/3 carucate of land.

NORTON

[NORTONE]   

 6 Villagers and 3 smallholders with 3 ploughs. Land for 4 ploughs. 2 hides Woodland 3 leagues long and 2 leagues wide. Value 40s. Godric / Wulfgeat
Robert holds 2 hides himself in NORTON (-in-the-Moors) and in its dependencies. Godric and Wulfgeat, who were free, held it.

RUSHTON

[RISCTONE] 

3 villagers and 3 smallholders with 1 plough. Land for 3 ploughs. third part of 1 hide  Woodland 1 league long and ½ wide. Value 10s. Wulfgeat 
Robert also holds the third part of 1 hide in HULTON and RUSHTON. Wulfgeat holds from him. He held it himself before 1066.

WESTON

[WESTONE] 

5 villagers with 2 ploughs. Land for 3 ploughs. 1 virgate of land. Woodland 1 league long and ½ league wide. Value 10s. Arnulf of Hesdin / Wulfric 
Robert himself holds in WESTON 1 virgate of land. Arnulf of Hesdin holds from him. Wulfric held it. 
 

 

'Land of Richard Forester...'
Settlement Households Plough lands Size Land type Value Held by

CLAYTON

[CLAITONE] 

In lordship ½ plough; 4 villagers and 6 smallholders with 1½ ploughs. Land for 3 ploughs.  ½ hide. Woodland 1 league long and ½ wide. Value 10s Nigel / Saegrim 
Nigel holds from him. Saegrim held it; he was a free man.

DIMSDALE

[DVLMESDENE] 

5 villagers and 2 smallholders with 2 ploughs. Land for 2 ploughs. 1 virgate of land. Meadow, 4 acres; woodland 12 furlongs long and 6 wide. Value 10s. Gladwin / Godwin
In DIMSDALE 1 virgate of land. Gladwin and Godwin held it; they were free. 

HANCHURCH 

[HANCESE] 

2 villagers and 7 smallholders with 1½ ploughs. Land for 2 ploughs. Three parts of half a hide.  Meadow, 1 acre; woodland 2 furlongs long and 1 wide. Value 5s. Pata - a free man

HANFORD

[HENEFORD] 

Land for 1 plough. 1 virgate of land. Waste.
A small wood 20 perches in length and width. 		Value 2s. Nigel - Tholf held it.
KNUTTON [CLOTONE]  4 villagers with 1 smallholder have 1 plough. Land for 2 ploughs. 1 virgate of land. Meadow, 4 acres. Value 5s. Godwin - a free man

NORMACOT

[NORMANESCOTE] 

Land for 1 plough.
In lordship 1. 		1 virgate of land. Woodland 3 furlongs long and 2 furlongs wide. Value 2s. Aelmer / Wulfric
Aelmer and Wulfric hold from him. Wullfmer held it; he was a free man. 

 

'Land of the King's Thanes...'
Settlement Households Plough lands Size Land type Value Held by

FENTON 

[FENTONE] 

Land for 3 ploughs.  1 virgate of land Waste. Alfward 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hundreds of Pirehill and Totmonslow

Long before the Domesday Survey was compiled in 1086, England was divided into administrative districts known as Hundreds. Dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period, these divisions formed the basis of local government and were used for taxation, military organisation and the administration of justice. 

When King William I ordered the great survey that became known as the Domesday Book, his officials organised much of their work around these existing Hundreds, recording landholdings, resources and values within each district.

  • To the officials compiling the Domesday Book in 1086, there was no Stoke-on-Trent. Instead, the area consisted of a collection of small manors and farming settlements divided principally between the Hundreds of Pirehill and Totmonslow. 

  • Most of the settlements that would eventually form the Potteries, including Stoke, Penkhull, Wolstanton, Burslem and Trentham, lay within Pirehill Hundred, while some settlements on the eastern fringes of the modern city were recorded in Totmonslow Hundred. (Endon, Weston and Caverswall)

  • The Domesday entries for these settlements appear under their respective Hundreds rather than under any single place-name. Understanding these ancient administrative divisions helps explain how the survey was organised and provides an insight into the landscape and government of North Staffordshire nearly a thousand years ago. The map below shows the approximate extent of Pirehill and Totmonslow Hundreds and highlights the local settlements recorded in the Domesday Survey.

 

map showing the locations in North Staffordshire covered by the Pirehill and Totmonslow Hundreds.
 map showing the locations in  North Staffordshire 
covered by the Pirehill and Totmonslow Hundreds

- those marked in red eventually became Stoke-on-Trent - 

The northern part of Staffordshire was divided between Pirehill Hundred and Totmonslow Hundred.

Pirehill covered much of north-west Staffordshire, including the areas around Newcastle-under-Lyme, Burslem, Knutton and Hanchurch. 

Totmonslow extended across the north-east of the county, including the Moorlands, Leek, Endon and Caverswall.

 

P7  Burslem
P8  Bradeley
P9  Norton
P12 Knutton
P13 Dimsdale
P14 Wolstanton
P15 Rushton 
P16 Hulton
P17 Bucknall
P18 Penkhull
P19 Stoke (church)
P20 Fenton
P21 Clayton
P22 Hanford
P24 Hanchurch
P25 Trentham
P26 Normacot
P30 Barlaston
T6  Endon
T19 Weston 
T20 Caverswall

 

 

 

 


Page History

  • Page created: 21 August 2005

  • Updated: 31 May 2006 - Pirehill and Totmonslow map added. 

  • Last updated: 1 June 2026 - Significant update, all content retained but reformatted, introductions to each section added, illustrative images added.