By Emma Laws, Cathedral Librarian
If you have visited our exciting new Treasures Exhibition, you will have seen part of Exon Domesday on display. This incredible document is the oldest part of England’s oldest public record! And it has been here at Exeter Cathedral since the 11th century.
At Christmas 1085, King William I, known as William the Conqueror, ordered a survey of people and property in England. He divided the country into several regions, excluding the far north. In January 1086, royal officials travelled to every region to record in meticulous detail the names of landowners, the taxable value of their lands, and the wealth of resources on their estates, including precise numbers of labourers and even animals – every sheep, pig and goat. The survey became known as the Domesday Inquest.
In late 1086 and early 1087, administrators collated the reports from each region to produce a final version, the Great Domesday Book – now housed at The National Archives. Remarkably, our manuscript of Exon Domesday is the only surviving regional report, covering the whole south west region, including Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and parts of Wiltshire.
You may already be hearing museums across the country announce their plans to celebrate the millennium of the birth of William the Conqueror (born in 1027). There’s the exciting prospect of seeing the Bayeux Tapestry displayed at the British Museum from September 2026 to June 2027.
If you would like to make a head start, do come to our 2025 Annual Library Lecture in the Chapter House on Thursday 30 October. This year, Chris Lewis (Fellow of the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London and co-author of Making Domesday: Intelligent Power in Conquered England) will be revealing some of the secrets of Exon Domesday: why, where and how it was written; how it survived; and how important it is for understanding the ambitions of William the Conqueror.
Don’t miss out!