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, Hallingbury was held by London (St Paul), bishop of.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Hallingbury in 1086, they recorded 5 manors held by London (St Paul), bishop of, Walter, Roger of Auberville, (Geoffrey) Martel and Hugh, under Swein of Essex and Geoffrey de Mandeville. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Edeva (the fair), Godric, free men, two, Esger (the constable) and Godgyth of Thorley.
The settlement was assessed at 7.49 hides for tax. The record notes 13 plough teams at work (6.5 in the lord's demesne and 6.5 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 51 heads of household: 19 villagers, 26 smallholders and 6 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (2 acres), woodland (100 pigs) and 2 mills. The manors were valued at 14.5 pounds in 1086, down from 18 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 →
Hallingbury 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 Hallingbury'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 Hallingbury.
1,098 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Hallingbury, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Hallingbury 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.