A place in Northamptonshire 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, Northampton was held by King William.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Northampton in 1086, they recorded 36 manors held by King William, Bishop Geoffrey of Coutances, (Bury) St Edmunds, abbey of, Peterborough (St Peter), abbey of, Ramsey (St Benedict), abbey of, Coventry (St Mary), abbey of, Selby (St German), abbey of, Count Robert of Mortain, Earl Hugh (of Chester), Countess Judith, Robert of Tosny, Henry of Ferrers, William Peverel, William son of Boselin, William the artificer, Guy of Raimbeaucourt, Walter of Flanders, Winemar (of Flanders), Richard the artificer, Robert of Auvers, Roger of Bois-Normand, Geoffrey of la Guerche, Geoffrey Alselin, Ralph nephew of Geoffrey Alselin, Giles brother of Ansculf, Gunfrid of Chocques, 490350, Swein son of Azur, Ansfrid of Vaubadon, Baldwin, Leofstan, Godwin the priest, Osbern Giffard, Durand the reeve, Dodin of Cottesbrooke and Hugh of Gouville. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by King Edward.
The manors were valued at 60.5 pounds in 1086, up from 30.5 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 →
Northampton was one of the settlements recorded in Northamptonshire in the 1086 survey. Northamptonshire in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Northampton'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 Northampton.
302 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Northampton, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Northampton is Inferior Oolite Group (Bathonian).
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.