Aldbourne Heritage Centre

History

It was in this period that Aldbourne was first recorded.

In 880 King Alfred leaves “a ham at Ældingburnham” to his nephew Ælthelm .

In 970 the village is recorded as Aldincburnan. The Domesday book shows that the villages was held by the King with enough land for 45 plough teams.

Various forms of the village name exist, one being Aeldasburne/Ealdeneburn which is believed to mean Aeldas Stream

975 Alfheah, a relative of King Edgar,  leaves property in Aldbourne to his brother

1053 Earl Godwin leaves the Manor of Aldbourne to his widow Gytha (Thorkelsdóttir).

Archaeology

An Anglo Saxon cemetery on site of Valley View was excavated in 2007 and 26 graves found.

There is some evidence for a wooden church built at the endof the 9th Century dedicated to St Mary Magdelene