A place in Surrey 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, Beddington was held by Robert of Vatteville.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Beddington in 1086, they recorded 2 manors held by Robert of Vatteville and William son of Turold, under Richard son of (Count) Gilbert and Miles Crispin. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Azur of Slindon and Ulf (son of Manni Swart).
The settlement was assessed at 50 hides for tax. There was land for 12 ploughs, with 13 plough teams at work (2 in the lord's demesne and 11 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 62 heads of household: 29 villagers, 27 cottagers and 6 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (24 acres), woodland (5 swine render) and 3 mills. The manors were valued at 19.5 pounds in 1086, down from 20 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 →
Beddington was one of the settlements recorded in Surrey in the 1086 survey. Surrey in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Beddington'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 Beddington.
3 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Beddington, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Beddington is Thanet Sand Formation (Thanetian).
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.