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The Domesday Book
Information was gathered about estates across the land and Rogerthorpe, like thousands of other settlements, made its first recorded appearance.
The survey set out to answer these questions:
Who owns what now?
Who owned it in 1066?
How much was it worth then and now?
How much revenue could it supply?
The return in respect of Rogerthorpe was included in that for Badsworth, Thorpe Audlin and Upton. It would be reasonable to assume that the main settlement was at Badsworth which was probably the centre of a Saxon/Danish estate prior to the conquest. The church for the area is recorded as being at Badsworth. It is thought that after conversion to Christianity, landowners provided a church for their estate. This eventually gave rise to the Parish and explains why it was normal, until recent times, for landowners, not bishops to appoint priests to their churches.