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, Pilley was held by Hugh of St Quentin.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Pilley in 1086, they recorded 3 manors held by Hugh of St Quentin and Aelfric (Small), under Hugh of Port. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Algar, Edric and Aelfric (Small).
The settlement was assessed at 1.87 hides for tax. There was land for 3 ploughs. Its recorded resources included meadow (1.5 acres). Pilley was valued at 2.75 pounds before the Conquest; no 1086 value was recorded.
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 →
Pilley 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 Pilley'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.
2 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Pilley, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Pilley is Solent Group (Paleogene).
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.