This publication is intended primarily as a simple source of local information. It concerns the entries in the Domesday Book of 1086 which relate to the area of the later parish of Witham. It therefore needs to be used in conjunction with other more explanatory works. A brief list of some of the most relevant publications is given in the Bibliography.

Essex is fortunate to have been included in the Little Domesday, which also incorporated Suffolk and Norfolk, and was more detailed than the surviving Survey of the rest of England. This may be because the latter had undergone a summarising process which the Little Domesday escaped.

One of the most important points to understand about the Domesday Survey is that it was prepared in 1086, in order to compare that year with 1066, the year of the Norman invasion. Information relating only to 1086 was usually indicated by one of two methods, namely the use of the present tense and/or the word "m[od]o" (now). Information relating only to 1066 was indicated by three main methods. These were the use of the past tense, the word "t[un]c" (then), and/or the phrase "t[empore] r[egis] e[duardi]" (in the time of King Edward).

Items which refer to both dates are sometimes introduced by the word "se[m]p[er]" (always). Many items have none of these details; sometimes it is possible to deduce that they belong to a list of other items that do have a time given. Where this is not so, they are normally assumed to belong to both dates, though this assumption may not be correct.

The Summary Table summarises the information available for Witham parish, in so far as this is possible in view of the various ambiguities.

In addition to the settlement at Chipping Hill, this main manor of Witham included the land on which the Templars were eventually to build the 13th century town of Newland, now Witham town centre. There was also a ring of four smaller settlements to west and south, Powershall, Bluntshall, Howbridge Hall and Benton Hall (in the Domesday text Powershall is known merely as "Witham", and Benton Hall as "Breddinchou"). These are all represented today by large houses. Both the main Witham manor and some of these outer settlements were divided into more than one holding at Domesday.

Some holdings were described in Domesday as manors and others not. The significance of this is debatable, but usually the places not so described are small, like the smallest two of the three entries called 'Witham'. As in this case, the "non-manors" can sometimes be seen as subsections of other entries which are called manors.

At the beginning of each entry, we find an indication of the "size" of the holding in terms of hides and acres. A hide usually included 120 acres. It was used as a guide to value as much as to area, so any relation to our own measurements is only very approximate. But the areas given for places in Witham parish such as Howbridge, Blunts Hall and Powershall, do bear some resemblance to the known size of their lands in later years.

At least some royal manors had a larger size of hide. One Essex example is Havering, discussed in the local volume of the Victoria County History. Certainly when the Templars surveyed the previously royal manor of Witham and Cressing in 1185, the total acreage of the rented land alone well exceeded 5 x 120, even though it was described as a five hide manor. But this is one of many subjects on which more research is needed.

It was at this level of tenant in chief, that the effect of the Norman invasion can most clearly be seen. In 1066 in the Witham area their numbers had included Saxons such as Burcard, Brictmar, Alwin, and an unnamed free woman. By 1086, these had been ousted by the new King's grants to Normans such as Robert Gernon, Count Eustace, Ranulf Peverel, and ecclesiastical bodies such as St. Edmund's Abbey (at Bury St. Edmunds). Most of them had other holdings distributed throughout the country. These are the names that appear as headings in Domesday.

In 1086 at least, many tenants in chief had granted some or all of their manors to sub-tenants, or "tenants in demesne", who in turn contributed to the required provision of knights for the King. These sub-tenants were also nearly all "Normans". In some cases they may have lived in the manor, though many had more than one such holding. Thus in Witham parish we had Hugh, Humfrey, Ralf son of Brien, Richard, and William son of Grosse. Other places, such as part of Blunts Hall and the main manor of Witham, were retained by their tenant in chief, ie. were "in demesne".

The householders or "men" living in or attached to the manors and settlements were described as freemen, sokemen, villeins, bordars and serfs. In descending order, these distinctions are generally supposed to indicate the degree of freedom which the person or his land had, from control by the lord of the manor. This has been the subject of much research and controversy. The current trend is to suggest that in practice the distinction may not have been as clear cut as historians once thought. As was usual in Essex, the total number of bordars in Witham parish increased between 1066 and 1086, whilst the number of villeins and serfs decreased.

One use of woodland was to provide grazing for pigs or swine, and it was always quoted in terms of numbers of pigs. This was a potential rather than an actual figure. It seems probable that when the Witham parish boundary was eventually delineated, its northern and south-eastern lines were particularly designed to incorporate the woodland of Witham manors (see map).

Like woods and meadows, the watermills were retained by the lord of the manor. This was because of the profit to be made from their essential function, in this case grinding corn.

In later records we know of only three such mills in Witham parish. Only one of these still has an actual mill building today, namely Blue Mill or Machins Mill, on the Blackwater (this probably belonged to either Blunts Hall or Benton Hall at Domesday). The two other survivors are now only represented by mill houses, at Chipping Hill (no.1 Powershall End), and Newland (Old Mill House, Guithavon Valley). This last eventually belonged to the 13th century settlement of Newland, and may not have been present at Domesday.

Following the facsimile of each entry, is an expansion of the latin text in bold type, with the inserted letters in plain type. Below this there is a literal English translation in plain type. This latter has had punctuation inserted, and a few additional words in square brackets. In parts where the original word order could still cause confusion, a second English version appears afterwards in round brackets. Line numbers have been added throughout.