In 1086, the Domesday Book was compiled.
There were just 19 households recorded in Hunsdon (the land of Ralph Tallboy’s Daughter). Among the residents listed are three slaves, one Frenchman (probably a soldier) and, importantly, a priest.[1]
Historians calculate that the population would have been roughly five times the number of households – so the priest would have been serving a community of about 100 people at the time.
[1] https://opendomesday.org/place/TL4114/hunsdon/ accessed 21st August 2024