Northamptonshire · Local History

The History of Stamford

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, Stamford was held by King William.

The record

What the Domesday Book records for Stamford

When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Stamford in 1086, they recorded 10 manors held by King William.

The settlement was assessed at 155 hides for tax. Its recorded resources included meadow (45 acres) and 3.5 mills. The manors were valued at 56.5 pounds in 1086, up from 19 pounds in 1066.

The record in full
Holdings
10 manors
Held in 1086 by
King William
Value in 1086
56.5 pounds (19 pounds in 1066)
Taxable assessment
155 hides
Meadow
45 acres
Mills
3.5

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 →

Stamford was one of the settlements recorded in Northamptonshire in the 1086 survey. Northamptonshire in the Domesday survey →

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Everything a full report reveals about Stamford

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Stamford's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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Archaeology

Archaeological finds near Stamford

467 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Stamford, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:

Roman: 185Medieval: 136Post medieval: 100Early medieval: 24Neolithic: 4Iron age: 4Bronze age: 2Modern: 1
Landscape

The ground beneath Stamford

The bedrock beneath Stamford is Great Oolite Group (Bathonian).

Common questions

Questions about Stamford

Was Stamford in the Domesday Book?+
Yes. Stamford was recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as a settlement in the historic county of Northamptonshire.
Who held Stamford in 1086?+
In 1086, Stamford was held by King William.
Where is Stamford today?+
Stamford is a settlement in the historic county of Northamptonshire, England.
Aubrey Research

Discover Stamford's Complete Historical Record

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.

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