Liber Exoniensis facts for kids

The Liber Exoniensis or Exon Domesday is a very old book. It is one of the first copies made from the Domesday Survey of 1086. This survey was a huge record-keeping project ordered by William the Conqueror.

The Exon Domesday focuses on the south-west of England. It covers areas like Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire. Today, you can find this important book at Exeter Cathedral Library. It is known there as MS 3500.

What's Inside the Exon Domesday?

The pages of the Exon Domesday were first numbered around the year 1500. At that time, they were put together into two separate books. Later, in 1816, the pages were reorganized and bound again into one volume.

The book wasn't put together in one go. Instead, it was made from different sets of pages, like separate working documents. We can see five main types of information in the Exon Domesday:

1. Descriptions of Manors: Most of the book describes "manors." A manor was a large estate or piece of land, often with a village and farms. This information came from the Domesday Survey. It covers Somerset, Cornwall, Devon (though not all of it), Dorset (also not all of it), and one entry for Wiltshire. Many of these entries are also found in the main Domesday Book. However, the Exon Domesday lists them by who owned the land. The main Domesday Book lists them by county.
2. Tax Accounts (Geld): These sections talk about "geld," which was an old land tax. There are three versions for Wiltshire and one for each of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, and Somerset. For each area called a "hundred" (a division of a county), the book shows how much land was taxed. It also shows how much land was exempt, like land owned by the king or his important noblemen (called "barons"). It also records how much tax was paid and how much was not.
3. Unclaimed Lands (Terrae Occupatae): These are lists of lands in Devon, Cornwall, and Somerset. These lands were held by people who didn't have full permission from the king.
4. Lists of Hundreds: There are two lists of "hundreds" for each of Devon, Cornwall, and Somerset. A hundred was a traditional administrative area within a county.
5. Summaries of Fiefs: These are short summaries of "fiefs." A fief was land held by a nobleman in exchange for loyalty and service to the king. There is also a partial list of the page sets (quires) in the collection.

Detailed Contents by Page

This table shows what kind of information is found on different pages (folios) of the Exon Domesday:

See also

• Cambridge Inquisition
• Ely Inquiry