river valley below. There was a possible battle between the Danes and Saxons which took place on a field named "Danesfield" to the west of the village, although the field name is the only evidence to suggest this. If a battle did occur here it would most likely to have been in 911 with 1016 suggested as an alternative possible date. The Watton manor was anciently held by the Crown but by 1066 the Lord of Watton manor was Alwin Horne, an Anglo-Saxon thegn who owned other lands at Walkern, Sacombe and Middlesex. Alwin Horne is believed to have fought at the Battle of Stamford Bridge under King Harold in 1066 and later that year killed at the Battle of Hastings. Middle Ages and Early Modern period The Domesday Book states that Watton village in 1086 consisted of 18 households (10 villagers, 4 smallholders and 4 slaves), suggesting a population of between 65 to 90. The manor was worth £5 and it had a mill, woodland with 100 pigs and a meadow. It was jointly held by Derman (of London) and Alward (the noble), who were both moneyers from London. There was an additional manor associated with Watton that had 6 households and a church, which could have been the Woodhall manor. The first mention by name of the Woodhall manor was in about 1130 when it was held by Ralph de Watton. Derman's great nephew Henry fitz Ailwin, the first Mayor of London, inherited the Watton manor in 1165. He built a hermitage chapel in what is now Chapel Wood and possibly built a new manor house in what is now Well Wood. At about this time, perhaps as a consequence of Henry fitz Ailwin's new buildings, a new manor called Crowborough emerged from the Watton manor. Crowborough was first referenced in 1266 when it was held by Alice de Rivers. Crowborough Hall stood at Watton Green and the moat which surrounded it can still be seen to this day. Hugh Bardolf inherited Watton manor in 1287, later it was held by John Bardolf and Thomas Bardolf with the Bardolf family owning the Watton and Crowborough manors at various times until 1562. During this period the house and chapel in Well Wood and Chapel Wood were abandoned, and so in circa 1520 the Watton manor was renamed Bardolf manor and the manor house moved to what is now Bardolphs