In this wonderful work, commenced in 1081 and completed in 1086, are to be found records of all the original Saxon landowners (many of whom were afterwards dispossessed by their conquerors), and the value and extent of their estates. The original holders of the Saxon manors and estates in Warwickshire suffered severely at the hands of the Norman invader; and the pages of the Domesday Book afford interesting evidence of how wide–spread these confiscations were. The population of the county at that time was a few less than seven thousand, all told. The period immediately succeeding the Conquest was one of great suffering for the vanquished. Year after year the Saxon Chronicle sets down a tale of wars, pestilences, storms, and famines, and although there is no direct reference to Warwickshire, it is certain that the county bore its part in “the sufferings inflicted by the acts of tyrannous man and the wisdom of God.” From the tangle of the history of this period it is no easy task to seek to justly estimate the part played by Warwickshire in the history of the country at large. But towards the end of Henry III.’s reign it was the scene of some of the most stirring and momentous episodes of the Barons’ War. The struggle between the King and the Barons under the leadership of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, centred, so far as Warwickshire was concerned, round Kenilworth and Warwick. De Montfort at the outset of the war garrisoned the former castle and placed Sir John Gifford in command. The latter and the troops of the garrison promptly ravaged the country round about, destroying the manor–houses and farms of those who were well–affected to the King. And finding that the Earl of Warwick had espoused the Royal cause the Kenilworth garrison, under the leadership of its governor, surprised and made a vigorous attack upon Warwick, taking the Earl and Countess prisoners. In the year following the Battle of Lewes was fought, on May 14, 1264, in which the Barons under De Montfort were victorious. Prince Edward and his troops afterwards made a forced march and appeared before Kenilworth and routed De Montfort and dispersed his force. De Montfort took refuge in the castle, and ultimately effected his escape. With the small force at his command Prince Edward felt unable to successfully attack a fortress of such strength, but in a skirmish hard by he succeeded in capturing much booty, and no less than fifteen of the Barons’ standards, which were destined a short time later to prove of peculiar service to the victor. [Illustration: COUGHTON COURT.]