Molesworth. There is no consensus about the average size of a household at that time; estimates range from 3.5 to 5.0 people per household. Using these figures then an estimate of the population of Molesworth in 1086 is that it was within the range of 59 and 85 people. The Domesday Book uses a number of units of measure for areas of land that are now unfamiliar terms, such as hides and ploughlands. In different parts of the country, these were terms for the area of land that a team of eight oxen could plough in a single season and are equivalent to ; this was the amount of land that was considered to be sufficient to support a single family. By 1086, the hide had become a unit of tax assessment rather than an actual land area; a hide was the amount of land that could be assessed as £1 for tax purposes. The survey records that there were six ploughlands at Molesworth in 1086. In addition to the arable land, there was of meadows at Molesworth. The tax assessment in the Domesday Book was known as geld or danegeld and was a type of land-tax based on the hide or ploughland. It was originally a way of collecting a tribute to pay off the Danes when they attacked England, and was only levied when necessary. Following the Norman Conquest, the geld was used to raise money for the King and to pay for continental wars; by 1130, the geld was being collected annually. Having determined the value of a manor's land and other assets, a tax of so many shillings and pence per pound of value would be levied on the land holder. While this was typically two shillings in the pound the amount did vary; for example, in 1084 it was as high as six shillings in the pound. For the manor at Molesworth the total tax assessed was 4 geld. In 1086 there was no church at Molesworth. The inclosure of open fields took place in 1799. The ecclesiastical parish was known from the Middle Ages as Molesworth and covered an area of . In 1936 Molesworth joined with Brington and Old Weston to form a new ecclesiastical parish. In 1935, the civil parish of Brington and Molesworth was created; the new parish covered an area of . The Royal Flying Corps established an airfield near