A place in Middlesex 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, Stepney was held by London (St Paul), bishop of.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Stepney in 1086, they recorded 13 manors held by London (St Paul), bishop of, Hugh of Bernières, Brian's wife, Roger the sheriff, Ranulf Flambard, William de Vere, Engelbert the canon, Bishop (Gilbert Maminot) of Lisieux, William the chamberlain, Aelfric Catchpoll, Edmund son of Algot, Alwin son of Brictmer, Robert (son of) Fafiton and Robert son of Roscelin. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by London (St Paul), bishop of, Doding, London (St Paul), canons of, Sired the canon, Godwin (of Benfield), Engelbert the canon, Alwin son of Brictmer and Alwin Stickhare.
The settlement was assessed at 59.75 hides for tax. There was land for 47 ploughs, with 40 plough teams at work (11 in the lord's demesne and 29 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 183 heads of household: 74 villagers, 52 smallholders and 57 cottagers. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (25 ploughs), woodland (500 pigs) and 7 mills. The manors were valued at 76.57000000000001 pounds in 1086, down from 88.66 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 →
Stepney was one of the settlements recorded in Middlesex in the 1086 survey. Middlesex in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Stepney'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 Stepney.
The bedrock beneath Stepney is Thames Group (Eocene).
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.