Ambleside Doomsday 1086AD

   

      In the years after the Norman conquest of England the "new" King, Duke William of Normandy had a large and sprawling kingdom to rule, and with some difficulty collecting taxes and governing a defeated nation largely consisting of to say the least, uncooperative Saxons, from all the existing shires. There was also a wealth of other obligations owed by his subjects to their king which were not always readily and willingly forthcoming. And so in the year 1085 ordered a national survey, to define the present and possible future wealth of his subjects. The property of every person from the King downwards, including Cow, Sheep Ox or Pig.

      The census was completed in 1086 in the form we know as The Doomsday Book but did not include some lands to the North, which remained free of the Norman yoke or was deemed to miserable for inclusion in the book. Quite simply because no Norman had ventured into these wild lands. In time this would change.

      It seems Ambleside falls into the latter descriptions, it's been said Ambleside or even Amels'se'at may at the time have been little more than a couple of enclosures for sheep and several basic homesteads, all of which is uncertain. The modern Cumbria is made up of Cumberland, Westmorland and the Furness part of Lancashire. Westmorland in 1085 consists of the two principle settlements of  Kendal "Cherchebi" (Land of the King) and a collection of lesser settlements. As with Levens "Lefuenes" (Land of Roger de Poitou) and lesser yet familiar settlements.

      With the Lancashire area which became Furness, there is nowhere of any significance and places like Cartmel, Dalton and Ulverston, like many places of this time, still to rise to prominence.

      For Cumberland, the larger county of Cumbria the principle settlements are Millom "Hougenai" (Land of the King) Yet Millom is at the then, very edge of the country, which possessed little of any note other than land. Bootle "Bodele" to the North of Millom is regarded as even less than Millom. The Normans furthest venture into Cumberland.