A place in Worcestershire 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, Elmley was held by Walter.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Elmley in 1086, they recorded a manor held by Walter, who held from Ralph of Tosny. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, it was held by Alwold (son of Erngeat).
The settlement was assessed at 11 hides for tax. The record notes 10 plough teams at work (2 in the lord's demesne and 8 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 29 heads of household: 14 villagers and 15 smallholders. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. Its recorded resources included woodland (1 * 0.5 leagues) and 3 mills. The manor was valued at 16 pounds in 1086, up from 10 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 →
Elmley was one of the settlements recorded in Worcestershire in the 1086 survey. Worcestershire in the Domesday survey →
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Elmley'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 Elmley.
2,154 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Elmley, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Elmley 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.