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, Rochford and Rochford was held by Widard of Farlow.
When William the Conqueror's commissioners surveyed Rochford and Rochford in 1086, they recorded 2 manors held by Widard of Farlow and Drogo son of Poyntz, under Durand of Gloucester and Walter son of Roger. Before the Conquest, in the time of King Edward, the land was held by Leofnoth and Wulfmer.
The settlement was assessed at 2.75 hides for tax. The record notes 7 plough teams at work (4 in the lord's demesne and 3 held by the villagers). The recorded population was 19 heads of household: 8 smallholders and 11 slaves. These are heads of household, so the settlement's true population was several times larger. The manors were valued at 2.9 pounds in 1086, down from 3.5 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 →
Rochford and Rochford 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 Rochford and Rochford'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 Rochford and Rochford.
156 recorded finds have been logged within about 5 miles of Rochford and Rochford, reported by members of the public and entered in the national record of archaeological finds. They span these periods:
The bedrock beneath Rochford and Rochford is Pridoli Rocks (Undifferentiated) (Pridoli).
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.