Domesday Book

Blackpool Sands, at Dartmouth in Devon, was voted the best kept beach and resort in the United Kingdom in 1999. It has also been granted a prestigious European Blue Flag Award. Mentioned in the Domesday Book, Blackpool Sands was also the site of the last highwayman's coach hold-up in England.

Part of the Domesday Book, the compilation of which was ordered by William the Conqueror in 1086. Compiled to provide a basis for taxation, the Domesday Book was the most comprehensive survey of feudal estates carried out in medieval England. It caused great popular discontent and earned its name because, like the religious Day of Judgement, there could be no appeal against it.

Record of the survey of England carried out in 1086 by officials of William the Conqueror in order to assess land tax and other dues, find out the value of the crown lands, and enable the king to estimate the power of his vassal barons. The name is derived from the belief that its judgement was as final as that of Doomsday.

The commissioners' method was to hold formal sessions and to take sworn answers to a set list of questions, including a formalized description of the agriculture of each place, how much land there was, who held it, what it was worth in the time of King Edward the Confessor and in 1086, and the status and numbers of people who lived there. Domesday Book reflects the great changes which the Norman Conquest brought about in England, particularly feudal land tenure following the introduction of the feudal system.

Northumberland and Durham were omitted, and also London, Winchester, and certain other towns. The Domesday Book is preserved in two volumes at the Public Record Office, London.