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, Rasen was held by Wimund (of Tessel).
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Rasen in 1086, they recorded 10 manors held by Wimund (of Tessel), Wadard of Cogges, Mainard, Roger, Alfred of Lincoln, Walo of Willingham, Ralph Paynel and Durand Malet, under Bishop Odo of Bayeux, Roger of Poitou and Jocelyn son of Lambert. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Rolf (son of Skjaldvor), Alwin, Broklauss, Godwin, Leofric, Ulf (Fenman), Ulfgrim of Laughton, Brictnoth, Swein, Asfrith, Grimkel, William (Malet), Thor and Merleswein (the sheriff).
The settlement was assessed at 16.46 hides for tax. There was land for 33.9 ploughs, with 29.1 plough teams at work (5.3 in the lord's demesne and 23.9 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 175 heads of household: 54 villagers, 16 smallholders and 105 freemen. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (61 acres) and 5 mills. The manors were valued at 17.8 pounds in 1086, down from 21.5 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 →
Rasen 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 Rasen'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 Rasen.
4 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Rasen, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Rasen is West Walton Formation, Ampthill Clay Formation And Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Undifferentiated) (Kimmeridgian).
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.