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, Oxford was held by King William.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Oxford in 1086, they recorded 13 manors held by King William, Abingdon (St Mary), abbey of, (Bury) St Edmunds, abbey of, Canterbury (Christ Church), archbishop of, Eynsham (St Mary), abbey of, Bishop Geoffrey of Coutances, Hereford (St Mary), bishop of, Lincoln (St Mary), bishop of, Bishop Odo of Bayeux, Winchester (St Peter & St Swithun), bishop of, Arnulf of Hesdin, Berengar of Tosny, Edward of Salisbury, Count of Evreux, Gernio, Guy of Raimbeaucourt, Henry of Ferrers, Earl Hugh (of Chester), Manasseh (the cook)'s son, Miles Crispin, Ranulf Flambard, Richard of Courcy, Robert d'Oilly, Count Robert of Mortain, Roger of Ivry, Walter Giffard, William Peverel and Oxford (St Frideswide), canons of. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Earl Algar, King Edward and Oxford (St Frideswide), canons of.
The settlement was assessed at 4 hides for tax. There was land for 5 ploughs, with 5 plough teams at work. The recorded population was 18 heads of household: 18 villagers. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (105 acres), woodland (8 acres) and 2 mills. The manors were valued at 215 pounds in 1086, up from 182 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 →
Oxford 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 Oxford'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 Oxford.
110 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Oxford, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Oxford 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.