domesday online.

I thought this was pretty cool. The actual Domesday Book, compiled in 1086, is now available online care of the British National Archives.

For those of you not completely familiar with said book, here is what the all-knowing Wikipedia has to say...

Domesday Book (also known as Domesday, or Book of Winchester), was the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William the Conqueror. The survey was similar to a census by a government of today. William needed information about the country he had just conquered so he could administer it. Whilst spending the Christmas of 1085 in Gloucester, William "had deep speech with his counsellors and sent men all over England to each shire ... to find out ... what or how much each landholder had in land and livestock, and what it was worth." One of the main purposes of the survey was to find out who owned what so they could be taxed on it, and the judgment of the assessors was final — whatever the book said about who owned the property, or what it was worth, was the law, and there was no appeal.

So, unfortunately for the people of Britain in 1086, there was no Department of Constitutional Affairs or booklet such as the Tax Appeals: A guide to appealing against decisions of the Inland Revenue on tax and other matters to help them out.