The Domesday Survey

In 1085 King William (William the Conqueror) ordered a survey of his new lands for geld (tax) and this extraordinary survey later became known as Domesday because it's record would 'stand until the Day of Judgement'.

Domesday entry for Hele

HELA formerly [before 1066 held by] Edwy 

Now [1086 held by] Drogo for the 

Bishop of Coutances 

Tax 1/4 virgate [taxed on 15 acres]

Land for 3 ploughs [or 3 families, appr. 45 acres]

In demense 1 plough [15 acres], 1 furlong [7½ acres], 1 slave

1 villager, 1 smallholder, (2 oxen*)

30 acres pasture, 20 acres woodland

20 sheep, 10 goats, 5 cattle, 7 pigs

Value now [1086] 10s formerly [1066] 5s 

Domesday interpretation for Hele

All land was owned by the King. Edwy formerly held Hele, but it is now held by Drogo Fitzpointz for the Bishop of Coutances. Neither of these Norman lords lived at Hele and perhaps Edwy still lived there, but has been reduced to the status of '1 villager'.

'There is land for 3 ploughs' is equivalent to (in Devon) 'there is land for 3 families'. It has been determined that 15-16 acres of cultivated land (as well as some pasture, woodland etc) would be enough for a peasant family to subsist -  so we might reasonable regard a plough as being about 15 acres.

The land in demense (half of the ploughland available) is in the service of the lord of the manor, presumably in this case Drogo and is worked by the villager, the smallholder and the slave. The remaining land (about 22½ acres) is for their own use and for their families. 

The population of Hele was probably about 10-15 people. The value of Hele doubled from 1066-1086, probably it was previously undervalued (it was taxed on only 15 acres).

Domesday Geography of Hele

The old Devon acre is bigger than the current Statutory acre - in modern terms a plough of 15-16 acres is about 20 acres, and a furlong about 10 acres).

 From Domesday we learn that there was a manor house at Hele, probably occupied by the villager and his family, with about 30 statutory acres of enclosed land nearby; a smallholder and his family probably occupied a second farm and a slave (and his family?) may have occupied a third (pasture?) farm or may have lived in outbuildings to the manor farm. There was a further 30 acres of enclosed land for the villagers, 30 acres of (enclosed?) pasture and 20 acres of  (enclosed?) woodland.

The manor was probably at Chambercombe or Comyn, with Hele Valley being the 30 acres or so of land in demense. The smallholder probably lived at Hele, below which is a further 20 acres of flat riverside land and the slave may have lived at Comyn, above which is a further 10 acres of riverside land. The 30 acres of pasture was probably the steeper land beside the valley bottoms, the 20 acres of forest was probably where it is now, at Chambercombe woods. 

Hele would not change very much from this until the industrialisation of the C18th.