Bulwell is probably named after the Bull Well, a spring to the north of the town in what was Bulwell Forest. ‘Bull’ is thought to be an ancient word for the bubbling of the water of the well. Another possibility is that ‘Bulla’ was a Saxon personal name. Recorded in the Domesday Book, compiled for William the Conqueror in 1086, Bulwell comprised two carucates of land (about 240 acres) belonging to the manor of William Peverel. Peverel, who was the son of the Conqueror, built the first Nottingham Castle.