A place in Hampshire 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, Houghton was held by Walter.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Houghton in 1086, they recorded 5 manors held by Walter, Wibert the cleric, William Peverel, Winchester (St Peter & St Swithun), bishop of, Turold (nephew of Wigot), Heldred, Turstin the chamberlain and Ansketil son of Osmund, under Earl Roger (of Shrewsbury) and Hugh of Port. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Winchester (St Peter & St Swithun), bishop of, Osmund of Eaton, Godwin, Algar and Edward.
The settlement was assessed at 35.5 hides for tax. There was land for 35.5 ploughs, with 38.5 plough teams at work (12 in the lord's demesne and 26.5 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 155 heads of household: 40 villagers, 62 smallholders and 53 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (160 acres), woodland (22 swine render) and 4 mills. The manors were valued at 40.1 pounds in 1086, up from 34.5 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 →
Houghton was one of the settlements recorded in Hampshire in the 1086 survey. Hampshire in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Houghton'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 Houghton.
424 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Houghton, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Houghton is White Chalk Subgroup (Maastrichtian).
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.