Domesday Book · Dorset

Dorset

321 Domesday villages

Recorded in William the Conqueror's survey of 1086

About this county

Dorset in the Domesday survey

Dorset in 1086 was a prosperous county of chalk downland and fertile river valleys, with a coastline that had long supported fishing and trade. The county's manors included several ancient royal estates, and the great monasteries — Sherborne, Abbotsbury and Cerne among them — held significant land. Many of its Domesday villages sit in valleys whose names have barely changed in nine centuries.

Notable settlements

Dorset has 321 Domesday settlements. Aubrey has full historical records for all of them — here are the most notable by recorded value in 1086:

Wimborne
109.75 pounds in 1086
Burton
107 pounds in 1086
Bere
105.5 pounds in 1086
Dorchester
104 pounds in 1086
Wimborne
104 pounds in 1086
Shapwick
100 pounds in 1086
Shipton
100 pounds in 1086
Charlton
100 pounds in 1086
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Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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