A place in Cornwall 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, Boden and Boden was held by Alward of Clyst.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Boden and Boden in 1086, they recorded a manor held by Alward of Clyst, Alwin, Andrew (of Vitré), Bletcu, Brictric (the Cornishman), Brictsi of Trembraze, Doda of Gurlyn, Godwin, Gruffydd of Roscarnon, Hamelin (of Cornwall), Kenred, Leofnoth of Veryan, Richard (son of Turolf), Count Robert of Mortain, Turstin, the sheriff, King William, Wiuhomarch (the steward) and Wulfward of Rinsey. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, it was held by Edwy, Earl Harold, thanes, seventeen and thanes, two.
The settlement was assessed at 15 hides for tax. There was land for 142 ploughs, with 36.6 plough teams at work (9.6 in the lord's demesne and 27 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 137 heads of household: 44 villagers, 50 smallholders and 43 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (7 acres) and woodland (1 * 1 leagues 12 acres mixed measures). The manor was valued at 19.95 pounds in 1086.
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 →
Boden and Boden was one of the settlements recorded in Cornwall in the 1086 survey. Cornwall in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Boden and Boden'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.
152 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Boden and Boden, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Boden and Boden is Upper Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated) (Late Devonian).
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.