A place in Nottinghamshire 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, Clifton was held by Ralph of Kimcote.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Clifton in 1086, they recorded 10 manors held by Ralph of Kimcote, Sighwat, Aghmund (son of Walraven), Roger (of Louvetot), Roger of Bully, William Peverel, Ulfkil (brother of Algar) and Ralph son of Hubert, under Lincoln (St Mary), bishop of. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Wulfgeat, Frani, Aghmund (son of Walraven), Odhgrim, Alwy, Countess Gytha (of Hereford), Ulfkil (brother of Algar) and Leofric (brother of Leofnoth).
The settlement was assessed at 5.84 hides for tax. There was land for 16 ploughs, with 23.3 plough teams at work (4.3 in the lord's demesne and 19 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 62 heads of household: 39 villagers, 11 smallholders and 12 freemen. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (30 acres), woodland (0.5 leagues * 3 furlongs mixed measures) and 1 mill. The manors were valued at 14.05 pounds in 1086, down from 23.8 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 →
Clifton was one of the settlements recorded in Nottinghamshire in the 1086 survey. Nottinghamshire in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Clifton'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 Clifton.
162 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Clifton, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Clifton is Triassic Rocks (Undifferentiated) (Triassic).
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.