Editing Domesday Book (section)

==Survey==
[[File:DomesdayCountyCircuitsMap.png|Domesday Counties showing Little and Great Domesday areas and circuits|thumb|upright=1.1|right]]
The ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' states that planning for the survey was conducted in 1085, and the book's [[colophon (publishing)|colophon]] states the survey was completed in 1086. It is not known when exactly Domesday Book was compiled, but the entire copy of Great Domesday appears to have been copied out by one person on [[parchment]] (prepared sheepskin), although six scribes seem to have been used for Little Domesday. Writing in 2000, David Roffe argued that the inquest (survey) and the construction of the book were two distinct exercises. He believes the latter was completed, if not started, by [[William II of England|William II]] following his accession to the English throne; William II quashed a rebellion that followed and was based on, though not consequence of, the findings of the inquest.<ref>{{cite book|author=Roffe, David|title=Domesday; The Inquest and The Book| pages =224–49|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 2000}}</ref>

Most [[Shire|shires]] were visited by a group of royal officers (''legati'') who held a public inquiry, probably in the great assembly known as the shire court. These were attended by representatives of every township as well as of the local lords. The unit of inquiry was the Hundred (a subdivision of the county, which then was an administrative entity). The return for each Hundred was sworn to by 12 local jurors, half of them English and half of them Norman.

What is believed to be a full transcript of these original returns is preserved for several of the [[Cambridgeshire]] Hundreds&nbsp;– the [[Cambridge Inquisition]]&nbsp;– and is of great illustrative importance. The [[Ely Inquiry|''Inquisitio Eliensis'']] is a record of the lands of [[Ely Abbey]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.domesdaybook.net/helpfiles/hs690.htm|title=Inquisitio Eliensis|website=Domesday Explorer|access-date=24 April 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526134400/http://www.domesdaybook.net/helpfiles/hs690.htm|archive-date=26 May 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The ''[[Liber Exoniensis|Exon Domesday]]'' (named because the volume was held at [[Exeter]]) covers [[Cornwall]], Devon, [[Dorset]], Somerset, and one manor of [[Wiltshire]]. Parts of Devon, Dorset, and Somerset are also missing. Otherwise, this contains the full details supplied by the original returns.

Through comparison of what details are recorded in which counties, six Great Domesday "circuits" can be determined (plus a seventh circuit for the Little Domesday shires).

# [[Berkshire]], [[Hampshire]], Kent, Surrey, [[Sussex]]
# [[Cornwall]], [[Devon]], [[Dorset]], [[Somerset]], [[Wiltshire]]
# [[Bedfordshire]], [[Buckinghamshire]], [[Cambridgeshire]], [[Hertfordshire]], Middlesex
# [[Leicestershire]], [[Northamptonshire]], [[Oxfordshire]], [[Staffordshire]], [[Warwickshire]]
# [[Cheshire]], the land ''[[Hundreds of Cheshire#The hundreds at the time of the Domesday Survey|Inter Ripam et Mersham]]'' ("between Ribble and Mersey", now much of south [[Lancashire]]), [[Gloucestershire]], [[Herefordshire]], [[Shropshire]], [[Worcestershire]]&nbsp;– the [[Welsh Marches|Marches]]
# [[Derbyshire]], [[Huntingdonshire]], [[Lincolnshire]], [[Nottinghamshire]], [[Rutland]],{{refn|name=Rutland|Sometimes considered part of Nottinghamshire in this period.}} [[Yorkshire]]