A place in Norfolk 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, Fincham was held by Hugh (of Wanchy).
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Fincham in 1086, they recorded 10 manors held by Hugh (of Wanchy), William Brand, William of Warenne, Hermer of Ferrers, (Bury) St Edmunds, abbey of, Ely (St Etheldreda), abbey of, Reginald son of Ivo, Ralph Baynard, (Ralph) Baynard, Herlewin son of Ivo and Mainard. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by free man, one, free men, eight, free woman, one, free men, nine, free men, two, (Bury) St Edmunds, abbey of, free men, twenty-seven, Ely (St Etheldreda), abbey of, Aelgyth (widow of Thorsten), free men, six and one half and free men, twenty.
The settlement was assessed at 16.15 hides for tax. The record notes 26.5 plough teams at work (15 in the lord's demesne and 11.5 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 108 heads of household: 19 villagers, 65 smallholders and 24 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (42 acres), woodland (0.5 leagues) and 1 mill. The manors were valued at 33.190000000000005 pounds in 1086, up from 25.7 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 →
Fincham was one of the settlements recorded in Norfolk in the 1086 survey. Norfolk in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Fincham'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.
1,003 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Fincham, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Fincham is Grey Chalk Subgroup (Cenomanian).
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.