A place in Staffordshire 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, Meaford was held by Nawen.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Meaford in 1086, they recorded 2 manors held by Nawen and Helgot of Holdgate, under Rheims (Saint-Rémy), abbey of and Earl Roger (of Shrewsbury). Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Rheims (Saint-Rémy), abbey of and Swein.
The settlement was assessed at 1 hide for tax. There was land for 6 ploughs, with 5 plough teams at work (2 in the lord's demesne and 3 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 15 heads of household: 9 villagers, 5 smallholders and 1 slave. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (3 acres) and woodland (3 * 1 furlongs). The manors were valued at 2.15 pounds in 1086.
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 →
Meaford was one of the settlements recorded in Staffordshire in the 1086 survey. Staffordshire in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Meaford'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 Meaford.
240 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Meaford, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Meaford 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.