A place in Lincolnshire 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, Markby was held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Markby in 1086, they recorded 3 manors held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux, Earl Hugh (of Chester) and Jocelyn son of Lambert. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Ketilfrith, Othenkar (son of Alnoth) and Earl Harold.
The settlement was assessed at 18.99 hides for tax. There was land for 21 ploughs, with 18.1 plough teams at work. The recorded population was 137 heads of household: 29 villagers, 24 smallholders and 84 freemen. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (12 acres).
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 →
Markby was one of the settlements recorded in Lincolnshire in the 1086 survey. Lincolnshire in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Markby'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 Markby.
8 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Markby, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Markby 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.