Norman churches, Domesday population and parish formation

Parishes developed between 10th–12th centuries. Concurrently there was a ‘great rebuilding’ of parish churches which saw them increasing in size. It has long been assumed that the principal reason for this change is that parish churches were built to accommodate all of their parishioners. This transition occurred across western Christendom, but England is unique in having a detailed record of population from this period in the Domesday Book, making it possible to test this assumption. This paper builds on the limited work to date by studying Wiltshire in detail. An analysis of 53 churches with surviving Norman fabric shows that there is a high degree of correlation between Domesday population and nave area for aisleless churches. This observation has also been shown to apply to a number of other counties. Further considerations show that this relationship was indeed to enable all parishioners to attend at least some services. The work also suggests that aisles were not primarily used for accommodation, and that an early date may be posited for parish formation.