A place in Bedfordshire with a history you can trace through the records: its entry in the 1086 Domesday Book, the archaeological finds and scheduled monuments around it, and the nearest Roman sites and battlefields. Everything below is drawn from the historical record.
In 1086, Arlesey was held by Durham (St Cuthbert), bishop of.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Arlesey in 1086, they recorded 4 manors held by Durham (St Cuthbert), bishop of, Bernard of Arlesey, Herfast of Marston and Wulfsi the prebendary, under William of Eu and Nigel of Aubigny. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Waltham (Holy Cross), canons of, Alstan of Boscombe, Freeman, one and Freemen, two.
The settlement was assessed at 15.31 hides for tax. There was land for 15 ploughs, with 14 plough teams at work (5 in the lord's demesne and 9 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 38 heads of household: 21 villagers, 15 smallholders and 2 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (3 ploughs) and 3 mills. The manors were valued at 14.85 pounds in 1086, down from 16 pounds in 1066.
The Domesday Book was the great survey of England ordered by William the Conqueror in 1085 and completed in 1086, the oldest surviving public record in the country. How the survey worked →
Arlesey was one of the settlements recorded in Bedfordshire in the 1086 survey. Bedfordshire in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Arlesey's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Nationally registered historic battlefields within 25 miles of Arlesey.
1,341 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Arlesey, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Arlesey is Grey Chalk Subgroup (Cenomanian).
Aubrey's full report for this location includes every Domesday manor, the complete record of medieval lordship, archaeological context, and the story of how this settlement evolved from 1086 to the present day.