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, Biddenham was held by Ernwin the priest.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Biddenham in 1086, they recorded 10 manors held by Ernwin the priest, Ordwy of Bedford, Bedford (St Paul), canons of, Serlo of Rots, Ralph Passwater, Osgar of Bedford, Godwin the burgess, Ordwy (of Bedford) and Wulfmer the burgess, under Lincoln (St Mary), bishop of, (Bury) St Edmunds, abbey of, Hugh of Beauchamp and William Speke. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Leofric, Wulfmer, King Edward's priest, Leofgeat the priest, Merwynn, Alsi of Bromham, Freemen, eleven, Osgar of Bedford, Godwin the burgess, Ordwy (of Bedford) and Wulfmer the burgess.
The settlement was assessed at 10 hides for tax. There was land for 10.1 ploughs, with 5.8 plough teams at work (3.8 in the lord's demesne and 2 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 20 heads of household: 10 villagers, 5 smallholders and 5 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (1 ploughs) and 2 mills. The manors were valued at 6.599999999999999 pounds in 1086, unchanged since 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 →
Biddenham 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 Biddenham'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 Biddenham.
The bedrock beneath Biddenham is Kellaways Formation And Oxford Clay Formation (Undifferentiated) (Oxfordian).
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.