The Normans invaded England in 1066 and stayed after William the Conqueror won the battle of Hastings. William was the first to bring organized taxation to England by ordering the compilation of the Doomsday Book in 1086.
     The Book formed the first census of the counties, shires, towns and family names south of the Scottish border. The counties north of York and over the border were not part of his Empire and remained uncounted until the first official census at the beginning of the 19th century.
     The stamps were issued in 1986 to mark the 900th anniversary of the Doomsday Book. The designs show the lives of the peasants, freemen, knights and lords. The designs are in the style of the miniatures that appear in books of that era.