A place in Cambridgeshire 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, Oakington was held by Alfgeat the priest.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Oakington in 1086, they recorded 5 manors held by Alfgeat the priest, Crowland (St Guthlac), abbey of, men-at-arms, three, Roger and Boselin of Dives' wife, under Ely (St Etheldreda), abbey of, Picot of Cambridge and Countess Judith. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Alfgeat the priest, Crowland (St Guthlac), abbey of, Blaecwin the sheriff, man, one, men, two, Godwin (the noble) and Siward (Barn).
The settlement was assessed at 14.6 hides for tax. There was land for 14.6 ploughs, with 8 plough teams at work (2 in the lord's demesne and 6 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 59 heads of household: 30 villagers, 6 smallholders, 20 cottagers and 3 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (2 ploughs). The manors were valued at 13.65 pounds in 1086, down from 23.15 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 →
Oakington was one of the settlements recorded in Cambridgeshire in the 1086 survey. Cambridgeshire in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Oakington'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.
745 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Oakington, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Oakington is Lower Greensand Group (Albian).
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.