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, Sharnbrook was held by Thorgisl the Englishman.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Sharnbrook in 1086, they recorded 11 manors held by Thorgisl the Englishman, Freemen, seven, Humphrey (of Carteret), Bishop Geoffrey of Coutances, Robert son of Roscelin, Osbern of Brouay, Robert, Osbern Fisher, Albert of Lorraine, Hugh (of Beauchamp) and Almer, under Count Eustace (of Boulogne), Hugh of Beauchamp, Hugh of Flanders and Countess Judith. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Alwin, Burgred (father of Edwin)'s man, Freemen, seven, Aelfric, Burgred (father of Edwin)'s man, Burgred (father of Edwin), Alwold (of Stevington), Freemen, three, Leofric, Tovi, a royal Guard, Algar, Queen Edith's man, Wulfgeat, King Edward's man and Almer's father.
The settlement was assessed at 10.86 hides for tax. There was land for 16.6 ploughs, with 7 plough teams at work (4 in the lord's demesne and 3 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 37 heads of household: 11 villagers, 17 smallholders and 9 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (1 ploughs), woodland (24 pigs) and 2 mills. The manors were valued at 8.95 pounds in 1086, down from 16.35 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 →
Sharnbrook 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 Sharnbrook'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 Sharnbrook.
17 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Sharnbrook, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Sharnbrook is Great Oolite Group (Bathonian).
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.