Domesday Book · Wiltshire

Wiltshire

351 Domesday villages

Recorded in William the Conqueror's survey of 1086

About this county

Wiltshire in the Domesday survey

Wiltshire in 1086 was a county of chalk downland, river valleys and ancient royal estates. Salisbury — the old hill-fort site of Old Sarum — was the county's administrative centre and the seat of its bishop. The county's extensive downlands supported sheep farming on a large scale, while its river valleys produced good arable land. Malmesbury Abbey was among the significant ecclesiastical landowners recorded in the survey.

Notable settlements

Wiltshire has 351 Domesday settlements. Aubrey has full historical records for all of them — here are the most notable by recorded value in 1086:

Chippenham
116.75 pounds in 1086
Melksham
115.05 pounds in 1086
Yatesbury
112 pounds in 1086
Westbury
110.5 pounds in 1086
Malmesbury
108.82000000000001 pounds in 1086
Calne
108 pounds in 1086
Downton
106 pounds in 1086
Gillingham
105.67 pounds in 1086
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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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