| One of the most interesting examples of land | | | | At the time of the Domesday Book, England was |
| surveying attempts from centuries past is William | | | | not a very politically stable place. Multiple political |
| the Conqueror's now famous Domesday Book. | | | | upheavals, including the Norman invasion, resulted |
| Created in 1086 AD, this book contains | | | | in landowners trying to conquer one another's land. |
| information on more than 14,000 settlements in | | | | The Domesday Book received its name because |
| England, including the names of all land owners, the | | | | the judgment of the assessors was final. |
| amount of land owned, and the resources on the | | | | Whatever the book said about ownership of a |
| land. Because the Domesday Book was originally | | | | particular area of land became the law, and there |
| produced as a method for William the Conqueror | | | | was no appeal process. In some counties, the |
| to raise tax funds for use against the Danish | | | | disputed lands, known as clamores, were treated |
| armies, the book also records land values and | | | | separately from the rest of the land, in part |
| dues owed to the crown. | | | | because of the Domesday Book's intended use as |
| The Domesday Book has been seen as the first | | | | an arbiter of land title disagreements. William the |
| cadastral survey, a precursor to Napoleon's | | | | Conqueror also intended this survey as a definitive |
| cadastre survey of France, undertaken in 1808 | | | | reference point for the crown's own property |
| and also nicknamed the "Domesday Book." A | | | | holdings, so that it might be used as evidence in |
| cadastre, or cadastral survey, contains thorough | | | | future disputes. The book was often used as |
| information about ownership details, location (as | | | | evidence in courts of the Middle Ages; even |
| precisely as possible, given the available | | | | today, occasional cases require its use. |
| technology), and as many details about land values | | | | Today, this early attempt at surveying is prized |
| and usage as possible. | | | | by historians and others seeking to understand |
| By recording which manors rightfully belonged to | | | | medieval life. For topographers, surveyors, and |
| which families, the Domesday Book ended years | | | | genealogists, the Domesday Book represents the |
| of confusion resulting from clashes between | | | | earliest survey of each township or manor in |
| Anglo-Saxons and Normans over land ownership. | | | | England. In many cases, the depth of information |
| Robert, Bishop of Hereford, wrote that the King's | | | | recorded in the book also provides key |
| Men "...made a survey of all England; of the lands | | | | information for tracing land ownership back |
| in each of the counties; of the possessions of | | | | through the centuries. |
| each of the magnates... of the services and | | | | Although this book contained an impressive |
| payments due from each and every estate.. after | | | | amount of information, it lacked the technical |
| these investigators came others who were sent | | | | details of earlier surveying methods found in |
| to unfamiliar counties to check the first | | | | ancient Egypt and Rome. The maps were |
| description." During preparations of the Domesday | | | | somewhat inaccurate, and they were not drawn |
| Book, existing documentation was collected about | | | | to scale. However, the entire book, an immense |
| lands and taxes, an important strategy that is still | | | | undertaking. was created in under two years. The |
| in use by today's land surveyors when | | | | level of detail recorded is quite impressive given |
| determining property boundaries. | | | | the surveying methods in use at that time. |