By 1086 the Normans had carried out a survey of the land and produced the Domesday Book, which gave them a very good detail of all money that could be collected from each parcel of land. It is quite certain that Gillingham was then a Christian community with about 450 acres of usable land, supporting about 100 people. The system sorted out the different levels of tenants:

1. Villeins who held about 30 acres.

2. Cottars or bordars who held about 5 acres.

3. Serfs who did all the work for the other two classes.

The Domesday Book records that "Turstin, son of Robert, holds Gelingham of the King’. This meant that it was a royal liberty, not subject to the law of the land. In the early 12^th c. The Liberty (manor) was divided into two tythings: Major and Minor.

Gillingham Major (or the Town Tything) consisted of The Town, Bugley, Langham, Huntingford and The Royal Forest.

Gillingham Minor (or the Free Tything) consisted of: Ham, Madjeston and Wyke plus the tithings of Bourton, Milton, Pierston and Motcombe with Enmore Green. The church of St. Mary the Virgin was the parish church.

Unlike many medieval manors, Gillingham was farmed on the two field system - North Field lying between Slaughtergate and Peacemarsh, Common Mead (the pastures) to the East of Common Mead Lane and South Field adjoining Common Mead to the East. The Pound (where straying animals were kept till redeemed by a fine) was sited in Pound Lane, Wyke.