According to the "Domesday Book" in 1086, the modern-day Cheadle and Cheadle Hulme were a single large estate. Valued at £20, it was described as "large and important" and "a wood three leagues (about ) long and half as broad". One of the earliest owners of the property was the Earl of Chester. It was held by a Gamel, a free Saxon, under Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester, and later became the property of the de Chedle family, who took their name from the land they owned. By June 1294 Geoffrey de Chedle was Lord of the Manor. Geoffrey's descendant Robert (or Roger) died in the early 1320s, leaving the estate to his wife Matilda who held it until her death in 1326. As there were no male heirs the manor, which was now worth £30 per annum, was divided between her daughters, Clemence and Agnes. Clemence inherited the southern half (which would later become the modern-day Cheadle Hulme), and Agnes inherited the northern half (latterly Cheadle). The two areas became known as "Chedle Holme" and "Chedle Bulkeley" respectively. Shortly afterwards the Chedle Holme estate was divided and the part where Hulme Hall is now situated became known as "Holme", and held by the Vernons. The estates were reunified on the death of the last of the Vernons in 1476.