A place in Berkshire 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, Hendred was held by Henry (of Ferrers).
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Hendred in 1086, they recorded 8 manors held by Henry (of Ferrers), King William, Thori, Ernucion of Greatham, St Albans, abbey of, Count of Evreux, Henry (of Fyfield), Grimbald (the goldsmith), Aldeva and Cola (the hunter son of Wulfgeat), under Salisbury (St Mary), bishop of and Henry of Ferrers. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by King Edward, Godric (the sheriff), Thori's father, thanes, three, Alwin, free men, seven, Godric the sheriff, Aki (the Dane), Aldeva and Saewin.
The settlement was assessed at 40 hides for tax. There was land for 21.1 ploughs, with 16 plough teams at work (10 in the lord's demesne and 6 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 72 heads of household: 13 villagers, 21 smallholders, 35 cottagers and 3 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (4 acres) and 4 mills. The manors were valued at 44.75 pounds in 1086, up from 40.25 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 →
Hendred was one of the settlements recorded in Berkshire in the 1086 survey. Berkshire in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Hendred'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 Hendred.
508 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Hendred, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Hendred is Gault Formation And Upper Greensand Formation (Undifferentiated) (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.