Researchers found a village lost 500 years ago: the settlement is in the UK's Domesday Book

The Domesday Book in Great Britain is the first ever land census conducted in the Middle Ages (1085-1086). And the settlements listed there are still of great interest to archaeologists.

According to the BBC, enthusiasts are now aiming to dig up the village of Sudeley, which for a long time was one of the largest in the region but disappeared in the 15th century. They have already identified the approximate location of the village near the town of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire and launched a crowdfunding campaign to carry out the excavations.

It is believed that the village of Sudeley was located near Sudeley Castle. Approximately 40 families lived there for 400 years. The period of prosperity lasted until about the 1400s, and in the 1440s, it began to decline. By the 1500s, the village had almost completely disappeared.

According to Derek Maddock, the archivist of Sudeley Castle, the reason for this could be the actions of the first owner of the castle, Ralph Boteler. According to the expert, he built a large building for himself and did not want to see the houses of commoners from its windows. However, Murdoch emphasizes that this is currently nothing more than a working hypothesis.

New data obtained using LiDAR, a technology for obtaining and processing information about remote objects using active optical systems that use the phenomena of light reflection and scattering in transparent and translucent media, revealed the possible location of the village. In particular, this system made it possible to find probable traces of a number of medieval residential areas.

The excavations will be the sixth in the framework of DigVentures at Sudeley Castle. The project involves ordinary citizens who want to join the search for and preservation of historical heritage. Project participant Maiya Pina-Dacier said that researchers have already managed to find the outlines and traces of some medieval buildings. Now they hope to establish their exact age and the period when they failed and collapsed. The team expects that the evidence collected at this site will contribute to a broader study of the history of the town of Winchcombe and its surroundings.

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