A place in Wiltshire 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, Swindon was held by Wadard of Cogges.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Swindon in 1086, they recorded 5 manors held by Wadard of Cogges, Alfred of Marlborough, Wulfric (the hunter), Wulfward the prebendary, Miles Crispin and Odin the chamberlain, under Bishop Odo of Bayeux. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Leofgeat, Karli of Norton and Thorbert (son of Chembel).
The settlement was assessed at 21.75 hides for tax. There was land for 8 ploughs, with 9 plough teams at work (4 in the lord's demesne and 5 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 27 heads of household: 11 villagers, 10 smallholders and 6 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included meadow (30 acres) and 2 mills. The manors were valued at 10.7 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 →
Swindon was one of the settlements recorded in Wiltshire in the 1086 survey. Wiltshire in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Swindon'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 Swindon.
1,774 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Swindon, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Swindon is Portland Group (Portlandian).
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.