Home > Local History > English Town Rankings - 1662 (Based on Number of Hearths Taxed)

Note:

This table is based upon the figures of Mr. C.A. Meekings, of the Public Record Office.  According to Hoskins, “The figures relate to taxable hearths only but are all comparable with each other.  They also relate to administrative areas.  A number of places included a country district which might be of considerable size, such as York or Shrewsbury.  A number of other places had liberties and precincts within their built-up area which lay under the jurisdiction of surrounding hundreds.  If these adjustments are made, some changes in ranking follow: thus York becomes 3^rd, Canterbury 8^th, Chester 16^th, and so on.  But the exact placing of his [or her] town is again a matter for the local historian, who will know what to include and what to exclude.  It ought to be said, too, that the local historian who is working on one town must examine all the surviving hearth tax assessments for his [or her] chosen place, above all those that include the names of those who were exempt for one reason or another.  Only in this way will he [or she] get a complete picture of his town.  In my experience the assessments for 1670 and 1674, where they survive, are among the most valuable of all.”

Town history extracts are taken from Wikipedia and are licensed under GFDL