A place in Hertfordshire 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, Chells was held by William (of Letchworth).
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Chells in 1086, they recorded 3 manors held by William (of Letchworth), Aelfric Bush, Swein's man and Godfrey, under Robert Gernon, Geoffrey of Bec and Peter of Valognes. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Aelfric, Almer of Bennington's man, Aelfric Bush, Swein's man and Alwin.
The settlement was assessed at 2.12 hides for tax. There was land for 2.3 ploughs. The recorded population was 4 heads of household: 2 smallholders, 1 cottager and 1 slave. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. The manors were valued at 2.25 pounds in 1086, down from 3.25 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 →
Chells was one of the settlements recorded in Hertfordshire in the 1086 survey. Hertfordshire in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Chells'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 Chells.
926 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Chells, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Chells 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.