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, Osgodby was held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Osgodby in 1086, they recorded 10 manors held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux, Hugh, Geoffrey (the sheriff), Roger, Godard, Ralph Paynel, Siward (the priest) and Siward the priest, under Ivo Tallboys, Roger of Poitou and Jocelyn son of Lambert. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Ernwin (the priest), Thorfridh, Tosti (brother of Erik), Ingimundr, Brictnoth, Swein, Erik (brother of Tosti), Merleswein (the sheriff), Abba and Sumarlithi (son of Karli).
The settlement was assessed at 5.89 hides for tax. There was land for 12.5 ploughs, with 8.4 plough teams at work. The recorded population was 75 heads of household: 6 villagers, 4 smallholders and 65 freemen. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (3 acres) and 3 mills. The manors were valued at 10 shillings in 1086, down from 1.75 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 →
Osgodby 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 Osgodby'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 Osgodby.
26 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Osgodby, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Osgodby 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.