Hide

A unit used for taxation rather than an exact measurement of area. In theory it represented enough land to support a household and is often estimated at about 120 acres, although the actual size varied considerably from place to place.

Carucate

Derived from the Latin caruca meaning "plough", a carucate was the amount of land that could be worked by a single plough team. It was used mainly in the Danelaw counties and was broadly equivalent to a hide.

Ploughland

The amount of land capable of being worked by one plough team of eight oxen. Domesday often records how many ploughlands existed within a manor and how many were actually in use.

Virgate

One quarter of a hide. A common holding for a peasant farmer.

Acre

A measure of area used for meadow, pasture and woodland. Its exact size could vary from region to region in the eleventh century.

League

A measure of distance used in Domesday, equivalent to approximately one and a half miles (2.4 km).

Furlong

A measure of length of approximately 220 yards (201 metres), equal to one eighth of a mile.

Hundred

A major administrative division of a county. The settlements that later formed Stoke-on-Trent were divided mainly between the Hundreds of Pirehill and Totmonslow.

Manor

A landed estate forming the basic unit of administration recorded in Domesday. Most local settlements were recorded as manors rather than villages.

Ploughland

The amount of land capable of being worked by one plough team of eight oxen. Domesday often records how many ploughlands existed within a manor and how many were actually in use.

Village

A settled farming community. Domesday sometimes used the same term for places ranging from small hamlets to sizeable settlements.

Woodland

An important resource providing timber, fuel and grazing for pigs. Large areas of woodland are recorded around settlements such as Trentham and Wolstanton.

Waste

Land that was uncultivated, unproductive or not liable for taxation. It did not necessarily mean barren land, but simply land producing little or no taxable income.

Forest

Not always a woodland. In Norman England a forest was an area subject to special royal forest laws, regardless of whether it was heavily wooded. 

Lord

The person or institution holding a manor. In the Stoke-on-Trent area most manors were held by King William, Robert of Stafford or other Norman landowners.

Reeve

A local official responsible for overseeing a manor or village on behalf of the lord.

Villager (Villanus)

The principal class of peasant farmer. Villagers usually held substantial amounts of land and formed the backbone of the rural economy.

Smallholder (Bordar)

A peasant with a smaller holding than a villager. Smallholders often worked their own land while also providing labour services.

Freeman

A peasant who enjoyed greater independence than most tenants and held land with relatively few obligations.

Freedman

A measure of distance used in Domesday, equivalent to approximately one and a half miles (2.4 km).

Slave (Servus)

A person who was legally unfree and owed labour directly to their master. Although slavery was declining in England, Domesday still records slaves in some settlements.

In Lordship

Land farmed directly for the lord's own benefit rather than being worked by tenant farmers.

Before 1066

Domesday frequently records who held land before the Norman Conquest under King Edward the Confessor, allowing comparisons between Anglo-Saxon and Norman ownership.

Ploughland

The amount of land capable of being worked by one plough team of eight oxen. Domesday often records how many ploughlands existed within a manor and how many were actually in use.

King William I (William the Conqueror)

King of England from 1066 to 1087. Some local manors were retained as royal estates and recorded as belonging directly to the Crown.

Owned - Bucknall, Endon, Penkhull, Trentham, Wolstanton. 

Robert of Stafford

One of the most important Norman landowners in Staffordshire. He received extensive estates after the Conquest and held many of the manors recorded in the Stoke-on-Trent area.

Owned - Barlaston, Burslem, Bradley, Caverswall (and half of Stoke church), Norton, Ruston, Weston. 

Richard the Forester

A Norman landholder entrusted with lands and responsibilities connected with the royal forests and hunting grounds.

Owned - Clayton, Dimsdale, Hanchurch, Hanford, Knutton, Normacot.

The King's Thanes

A thane was originally an Anglo-Saxon noble or military companion of the king. By 1086 some thanes had retained portions of their land and were recorded in Domesday as holding directly from the Crown. Their presence provides a link between the Anglo-Saxon and Norman periods.

Owned - Fenton.