In Norman times most mills were either water powered or animal driven. Mills powered by wind were a later development. But the importance of the mill to the local population who brought their grain to be ground into flour was profound. In Norman times, landowners, that is, the lords and magnates who held manors and estates from the king, were jealous of their privileged rights to charge a tax for use of their mills and to force peasant farmers to use them. In some villages this could lead to severe contention and even unrest. Since the miller was usually a free man from the peasant class he was placed in a difficult position. He needed to please his lord by collecting the tax but at the same time he was trying to remain on peaceable terms with his neighbours. It is notable that a mill was the sole piece of machinery known to most people alive at the time. Its power was observable by all. A man who knew how to operate and maintain such a machine was in possession of arcane knowledge and therefore might gain a grudging respect. At the same time his scope for overcharging peasants or stealing grain was large and therefore he was often resented.
The Domesday Murders dramatises some of this difficulty in the character of Gurth the Miller.
In the novel, Gurth the Miller is an appointee of the Norman baron, Robert of Castle St Mary’s. The village, surrounding lands, manor and demesne were Robert’s pay-off for service in the Battle of Hastings. But Gurth’s immediate boss is the Reeve, or estate manager, who is responsible for the day to day running of all Robert’s land holding. If Gurth doesn’t collect the tax or grind enough grain, or if he fails to maintain the mill and keep it functioning, he will have to answer to the Reeve.
Gurth is a free man and not, strictly speaking, a serf but in fact he has little autonomy. He is known to all the villagers and is often the object of resentment. Gurth has a boisterous personality and likes his ale, sometimes drinking with the village elders. When a near riot erupts in the village, Gurth plays an important part, speaking his mind and defending the interests of the villagers. But he is a figure on the margins, both in and out of village secrets, by turns accepted and resented. Independent but bold, a man who backs his boldness with muscular doggedness, but ultimately, like all the peasants, he is essentially without power. As a man and as a miller he is widely known but not widely liked.
The Domesday Murders is set in 1086, the year in which the Royal Commissioners were sent out by the king to make an inventory of the kingdom. It was at the Christmas court at Gloucester in 1065 that William the Conqueror announced the project. It was decided that teams of men, in twos or threes, would be sent out around the country to survey the realm from the Channel to the Tees, the eastern counties, the south and west to make a complete survey of the country. There would be seven teams, seven surveys, seven circuits.
This truly astonishing undertaking echoes with Biblical resonances. Seven is regarded as a Biblical number of completion. Seven days of creation, seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, seven Acts of Mercy, seven Deadly Sins. As if to reinforce the miraculous aura, King William ordered the whole thing to be finished in Seven Months.
Basically this was a massive fact-finding mission, a colossal enterprise that aimed at compiling a Great Book of the Exchequer, a Description of all England, known to us as the Domesday Book.
The Commissioners were charged to take note of the distribution of property within the king’s realm. What land was held directly by the King, what by his tenants-in-chief, what by their tenants and under-tenants, what by the abbots, archbishops and bishops. How many souls in every place, how many free men, slaves, cottagers and villagers, how many ploughs, sheep, cattle, pigs. And how many fisheries, wiers and mills.
Interestingly, the Domesday Book is not actually a book but rather a collection of manuscripts. Its historic text consists of two volumes known as ‘Great Domesday’, now bound in two parts, and ‘Little Domesday’, now bound in three. ‘Little Domesday’ is not a supplement to the ‘Great Domesday’ but rather: “an undigested remnant of an intermediate stage of the survey,” as Professor G. H. Martin puts it in the Introduction to the Penguin edition of the complete translation. A closely connected collection of manuscripts, known as the ‘Exon Domesday,’ covers the five counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire. London is treated separately.
Having sent out his teams of commissioners soon after Christmas 1085, William then issued a command to all his barons, lords and landholding men of any account, to meet him at his palace at Sarum at Lammastide 1086 (1st August) in order to take an oath of fealty. At that time the results of the survey, were to be presented to him at a formal ceremony.
At places where the inquest was to be conducted, in a church or manor hall or an ecclesiastical building, or any convenient place with sufficient space for assembly, the commissioners would summon all landholders from the surrounding area in order to question them about land ownership in the local places. There were a number of simple questions. What is the name of this place? Who holds it? Who held it in the time of King Edward? What is the estate worth now? What was it worth then? ( i.e. in Edward’s time).
From these questions it can be seen the William’s inquiry wanted to know about the past as well as the present. Had the land gained value or lost value since the days of King Edward? (d.1065) The King wanted knowledge of his kingdom, who owned what, how much was it worth and how much return had he had on his financial investment of 1066?
In The Domesday Murders, the Commissioners arrive at Castle St Mary’s to begin their inquiry, but events take an unexpected and mysterious turn. When they disappear suddenly one night, leaving their precious manuscripts behind, a frenetic hunt begins. If the King’s men are missing, the King will want to know why. And when two bodies are found the mystery deepens and the whole village comes under threat.