Pagham in the Domesday Book

1086

The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded Pagham as a substantial manor held by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The entry lists extensive arable land, meadow, a church, a mill and a significant population by the standards of the time. Pagham was one of the most valuable manors on the Manhood Peninsula, reflecting the fertility of the coastal plain and the wealth of its ecclesiastical lord. The Archbishop's ownership of Pagham was longstanding, predating the Norman Conquest, and the manor formed part of the Canterbury estates in Sussex that also included properties around Chichester and Tangmere. The Domesday record confirms Pagham's importance as a productive agricultural settlement within the wider network of archiepiscopal lands.