A place in Devon 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, Little Rackenford was held by Ludo (of Vred).
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Little Rackenford in 1086, they recorded a manor held by Ludo (of Vred), who held from Walter of Douai. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, it was held by Godric.
The settlement was assessed at 0.12 hides for tax. There was land for 1 plough, with 1 plough team at work. The recorded population was 2 heads of household: 2 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (2 acres). The manor was valued at 5 shillings 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 →
Little Rackenford was one of the settlements recorded in Devon in the 1086 survey. Devon in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Little Rackenford'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.
The bedrock beneath Little Rackenford is Holsworthy Group (Moscovian).
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.