A place in Huntingdonshire 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, Easton was held by Freemen, four.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Easton in 1086, they recorded 10 manors held by Freemen, four, William of Cairon, William of Warenne, Theodric, 602760, Hugh of Ivry, 490150 and Hugh Hubold, under Bishop Geoffrey of Coutances, Lincoln (St Mary), bishop of, Hugh of Beauchamp and Osbern son of Richard. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Freemen, four, Alwin Devil, Augi, Blaec, Augi's man, Godric (the sheriff), Wulfgeat, Eskil's man, Wig, a royal thane, Freeman, one and Stori of Bolingbroke.
The settlement was assessed at 9.3 hides for tax. There was land for 19.3 ploughs, with 11.5 plough teams at work (6.5 in the lord's demesne and 5 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 44 heads of household: 13 villagers, 24 smallholders and 7 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (1 ploughs) and woodland (100 pigs). The manors were valued at 11.35 pounds in 1086, up from 10.549999999999999 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 →
Easton was one of the settlements recorded in Huntingdonshire in the 1086 survey. Huntingdonshire in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Easton'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 Easton.
460 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Easton, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Easton is Kellaways Formation And Oxford Clay Formation (Undifferentiated) (Oxfordian).
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.