Domesday Book · Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire

146 Domesday villages

Recorded in William the Conqueror's survey of 1086

About this county

Bedfordshire in the Domesday survey

Bedfordshire in 1086 was a compact midland county with fertile river valleys along the Ouse and its tributaries. Its estates were held largely by Norman barons who had displaced the Anglo-Saxon thegns of Edward the Confessor's reign. The county's villages supported mixed arable farming, and many settlements recorded in Domesday survive as thriving communities today.

Notable settlements

Bedfordshire has 146 Domesday settlements. Aubrey has full historical records for all of them — here are the most notable by recorded value in 1086:

Luton
33 pounds in 1086
Leighton
26 pounds in 1086
Toddington
25 pounds in 1086
Stotfold
25 pounds in 1086
Clapham
24 pounds in 1086
Rushden
18.31 pounds in 1086
Kempston
18 pounds in 1086
Biggleswade
17 pounds in 1086
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Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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