Page last updated 31/05/07

Extracts from the Alecto Historical Editions translation of the Domesday Book, published by Penguin Books 2002.

Moorsholm, North Yorkshire (listed as Morehusum, Moreshusun or Morhusum)

The land of the King in Yorkshire ....Langbaurgh Wapentake .....in Loftus 2 thegns had ... in Moorsholm, half a Carucate of land to the geld. Land for 2 oxen. 8s

The land of the Count of Mortain....In Moorsholm [are] 3 carucates to the geld, and there could be 2 ploughs. Uhtræd had 1 manor there. Now Richard has it of the count, and it is waste. In another Moorsholm [Little Moorsholm] [is] 1 carucate to the geld, and half a plough could plough it. Uhtræd had 1 manor there. Now Richard has it of the count and it is waste. The whole is half a league long and 2 furlongs broad.

This is the fief of Robert de Bruis which was given after the book of Winchester was written, namely:
.... in Moorsholm, half a carucate....

In Moorsholm, the Count of Mortain 3½ carucates |In the same place, the king half a carucate|
In another Moorsholm [Little Moorsholm], the Count of Mortain 1 carucate.

Carucate - the amount of land which, over the year, would require the services of a team of oxen for ploughing. By comparison an acre was the amount of land which could be ploughed by one team in a day. There were around 120 acres in a carucate.

Geld - the land tax. Thus 'one carucate of land to the geld' -  taxable value of one carucate.