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, Turvey was held by 602760.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Turvey in 1086, they recorded 8 manors held by 602760, Bishop Geoffrey of Coutances, Arnulf of Ardres, Warner of Turvey, Nigel of le Vast, men-at-arms, two, Hugh (of Flanders) and Alwin the priest, under Bishop Odo of Bayeux, Count Eustace (of Boulogne), Hugh of Beauchamp, Nigel of Aubigny, Robert of Tosny and Walter of Flanders. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by man, one, Freemen, three, Alwold (of Stevington), Freemen, two, Alward, Bishop Wulfwy's man, Oswulf (son of Frani), Leofnoth (son of Osmund) and Alwin the priest.
The settlement was assessed at 11.53 hides for tax. There was land for 19.3 ploughs, with 16.3 plough teams at work (9.3 in the lord's demesne and 7 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 44 heads of household: 8 villagers, 32 smallholders and 4 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (0.5 ploughs), woodland (40 pigs) and 1 mill. The manors were valued at 12.3 pounds in 1086, down from 17.15 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 →
Turvey 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 Turvey'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 Turvey.
13 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Turvey, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Turvey 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.