A place in Essex 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, Colchester was held by Hugh.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Colchester in 1086, they recorded 17 manors held by Hugh, London (St Paul), bishop of, Barking (St Mary), abbey of, Rouen (Saint-Ouen), abbey of, priest, one, Count Eustace (of Boulogne), King William, Haimo the sheriff, Eudo the steward, Turstin Wishart, Winchester (St Peter & St Swithun), bishop of and Robert son of Ralph of Hastings. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by London (St Paul), bishop of, Barking (St Mary), abbey of, Rouen (Saint-Ouen), abbey of, priest, one, Queen Edith, free man, one, free men, five, Edric (of Easthorpe), King Edward, Thorbiorn of Tolleshunt, burgesses, burgesses, two and priests, two.
The settlement was assessed at 63.94 hides for tax. The record notes 60 plough teams at work (17.5 in the lord's demesne and 42.5 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 316 heads of household: 69 villagers, 193 smallholders, 18 freemen and 36 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (6 acres), woodland (100 pigs) and 4 mills. The manors were valued at 180.75 pounds in 1086, up from 93.77 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 →
Colchester was one of the settlements recorded in Essex in the 1086 survey. Essex in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Colchester'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 Colchester.
231 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Colchester, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Colchester is Thames Group (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.