Domesday Book Homeschool Lesson

I’m all for fun school work.  I know that sometimes in life one simply has to knuckle down and do the work regardless of the fun factor or lack there of. However, as Mary Poppins once said ‘a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down’ (I’m currently breaking off into song – you should be glad you can’t hear me given I can’t sing a hoot!!). But in the case of this Domesday Book Homeschool Lesson, well, on this day, we needed a truckload of sugar to make it even slightly palatable!

I’m often asked how I manage to actually persuade the children to do school at home.  And, usually, the answer is I don’t.  In the main (apart from maths) my children have all loved school.  This was certainly the case until we happened upon the Domesday Book.  Anyone have a clue how one makes THAT fun?  No, me neither!  On this occasion I did have to persuade the children to do the work (and cajole, bribe, threaten with the electric chair…..).  It was all met by groans.  What should have taken a week, took two.  Honestly, any wise parent would have left it.  But, I’m not.  Wise, that is.  So I didn’t.  Here are the pitiful results.  Actually making the Domesday Book at the end-now that was fun.  The children very nearly sprung into action when I suggested that!!

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Domesday Book Homeschool Lesson

What is the Domesday Book?

The Domesday Book is a comprehensive record of the extent, value, ownership, and liabilities of land in England. It is in the form of two books. One is called the Greater Domesday Book. The second is called the Lesser Domesday Book. William the Conqueror gave the order to be make the Domesday book in 1086. Written in Latin by scribes, the results of a fixed question survey offered information regarding over 13000 places in England and Wales. It is currently worth £73 000.

Why was the Domesday Book Created?

The Domesday Book was created primarily to provide a record land ownership and land values. This helped William to decide how much tax he could charge. The Domesday book also helped William figure out how many soldiers he would be able to raise if England was ever under attack again. It also clarified the rights and dues owed to him, as well as the liability of the barons to provide military resources for the king.

Why is Domesday Book Important?

The Domesday book is one of the oldest public records in the world and the earliest English document created and preserved by the English government. It is also a comprehensive record of pre-industrial era England providing a picture of the country just after the Norman Conquest and valuable information about the social, economic and political landscape. As it recorded land ownership, how it was used and its value, it also provided a way to settle legal disputes. Lastly, it provides a glimpse into society under Norman leadership.

Why Was it Called the Domesday Book?

The Domesday Book’s name comes from two old English words. The first is Dom, which means judgement and the second is daeg which means day. Because the Domesday Book was such a detailed and thorough account of England’s resources and lands, people of the time compared it to the last judgement, alternatively called ‘domesday’ in the Bible.

Where is the Domesday Book Kept Now?

The original copy of the Domesday Book is kept at the National Archives in Kew, London

Onto the Actual Domesday Book Homeschool Lesson…

First was the painfully ‘boring’ stuff.  I had bought three books.  Each day I had each child read one book each.  Granted it took them longer than it did me (I felt I needed to join the troops on this one and assigned myself the same heavy reading).  In fact, probably, had I known it would take that long, I would have assigned less.  Lesson learned.

They were good books, but really, as Thomas pointed out – was it essential to read ALL three?  On the same subject?  No probably not.  Lesson learnt.  Again.

Domesday Book Note Booking

As part of our Domesday Book homeschool lesson I had them write all that wonderful (three whole books worth!) knowledge onto some handy dandy notepages:

Horrible Histories Video

And a little bit of fun…

Setting Up Our Own Estate

I would be doing a medieval maths lesson on percentages. For this, I needed the children to set up our manor on our huge paper mache map:

Look it up! Create your own paper mache map

Obviously, given the whopping great keep plonked in the middle of the map, it wasn’t to scale.  In fact, it served no purpose other than to persuade the children that something exciting was coming up.  Thing is, nothing exciting was coming up concerning the map:  I had organised a living maths lesson all about our Manor and incorporating percentages and taxes.  Not really enough to make the children’s eyes light up with joy.  More like groans of disappointment.  The maths lesson was actually a huge success and one which I was chuffed went so well.  However, at that point in time, the children didn’t fancy their chances of enjoying it.

Fancy doing another Domesday Activity? Head over to ThinkingHistory!

Make Your Own Domesday Book

Our map and Manor did serve another, infinitely more interesting and enjoyable, purpose.  It was to form the basis of the Manor on which our own consensus would be written down (using quill pens, bottled ink and parchment paper) and placed in our own Domesday Book (with a highly decorated cover in the vein of the original Domesday book).  A collective sigh of relief was breathed.  The Mummy they knew and loved was back on her game!

The Real Domesday Book

First, we had a look at the real Domesday Book:

We collected the following supplies: feather quills, ink, proper parchment paper, card, foil and foam shapes. First they stuck foam shapes on card in any pattern they desired (much like we did with the Viking brooches and string).

Next, they covered the card with foil. We used a cheap foil this time and the results were not nearly as good, so I recommend no scrimping on the foil! If the foil had been of better quality it would have molded itself to the foam leaving a raised impression of their pattern. It really didn’t work that well with the cheaper stuff. They stuck gems on to decorate

Lastly, the children made the interior of their Domesday Book. But first they needed to figure out how a quill worked, before writing the contents of our Manor onto their parchment. Trying to do it without splodging and getting their hands inky proved to be quite a challenge! Before adding the sheet to the inside of the book, we came up with the excellent insane idea to burn the edges of each sheet to age them:

I think they did a great job! The sentences were started in red ink and the important names of places had a red line through them as per the original. These were a couple of the interior sheets of aged Domesday parchment 😊

The parchment was glued into the decorated covers. The children ran some black paint over the surface of the foil to age it as well:

And that was that. We all breathed a sigh of relief. Apart from the last activity, the whole Domesday Book Homeschool Lesson had been a bit like pulling teeth!

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