A place in Dorset 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, Woodsford was held by Brictwin.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Woodsford in 1086, they recorded 2 manors held by Brictwin and William Bellett, under Cerne (St Peter), abbey of. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Cerne (St Peter), abbey of and Leofgar.
The settlement was assessed at 5 hides for tax. There was land for 4 ploughs, with 2 plough teams at work. The recorded population was 20 heads of household: 6 villagers, 5 smallholders and 9 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (28 acres) and 1 mill. The manors were valued at 4.5 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 →
Woodsford was one of the settlements recorded in Dorset in the 1086 survey. Dorset in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Woodsford'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 Woodsford.
776 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Woodsford, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Woodsford is Bracklesham Group And Barton Group (Undifferentiated) (Eocene).
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.