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The Lords of Domesday

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A HISTORICAL VIEW OF CHESTER/CHESHIRE FROM THE TIME OF DOMESDAY.

The Lords of Normandy, Massey, Tatton, Wythenshawe, Baguley, Northenden & Kenworthy:


NORMANDY:- Robert 1st Duke of Normandy & William 1st - The Conquest of England.

King William 1st was the illegitimate son of  Robert 1st Duke of Normandy & his mistress Herleva/Arlette, daughter of a tanner in Falaise. After his father's death in 1035, he became ruler of Normandy at aged just 7. Although he was illegitimate, he succeeded his father through the Norman law of primogeniture, eldest son. His great uncle looked after the Duchy until 1037, and his overlord, King Henry I of France, knighted him at the age of 15. In 1066 William invaded England & defeated King Harold at the battle of Hastings. He wasted no time in having himself crowned at Westminster Abbey on Christmas day. After the battle, William kept the promises he had made to the barons & knights who fought with him to give them English land taken from the Saxons. In exchange, the barons had to be loyal to William and provide knights to fight for him when he needed them. They might also have to pay sums of money to the king. William made sure the barons could not easily rise against him by giving them land in different parts of the country, which made it difficult for them to raise an army in secret. In their turn, the barons granted land to their followers. The knights promised in return to be loyal to the barons, to fight for them when needed and to raise money for the barons. 


Rebellion & Revolt

Soon after Domesday in 1068,  facing rebellion & revolt, William decided to build a castle in the middle of the earthworks at Old Sarum in Salisbury. This was to transform the site, effectively dividing the hillfort in two: an inner set of fortifications which became his castle, and a huge outer enclosure, within which a cathedral was also built by 1069. In 1070, William had gathered his troops at Old Sarum to pay them off after a relentless campaign to subdue northern England, known as the Harrying of the North 1069/70.  In 1075 however, there was a further escalation of revolt from the Earls over an issue of a marriage which had not been sanctioned by the King as they had married without permission. In William's absence, Ralph, Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford (his new brother-in-law), and Waltheof, 1st Earl of Northumberland  began the revolt , which was plagued with disaster and was the last serious act of resistance against William 1st of England. Later at the Oath of allegiance on the 1st August 1086 at Old Sarum in Salisbury, William’s oath insisted that from then on, if one of the powerful men of the realm were to rebel against the Crown, the primary loyalty of his subtenants would be to the king rather than to their immediate master. According to the royal chronicler: "his council came to him there, and all the landholding men of any account throughout England, whosesoever men they were. And they all bowed to him and became his men, and swore oaths of fealty to him, that they would remain faithful to him against all other men".  At the Oath were all the landholders and the king’s 170 tenants-in-chief, and subtenants. Not only was this an act of homage on a scale unseen either in William’s native Normandy or in England, but it also established a bond between the king and his subtenants. King William died in 1087 while leading a campaign in France & left the custody of England to William's second surviving son, also called William. He was given the nickname of William Rufus, either due to him having red hair or perhaps a ruddy complexion, or maybe both.  He reigned from 1087 to 1100 & died while hunting in the New Forest, having being shot by an arrow.


One of the major legacies of William 1st was the building of Chester castle in 1069-1070 after Chester became the last Saxon burgh to fall during his subjugation of northern England. The Normans were secure in their fortress of Chester, protected by the River Dee on one side and the marshes and forests of Cheshire on the other. In 1071 the castle eventually passed to Hugh d'Avranches, (Viscount Avranches), commonly known as Lupus the wolf. Hugh became the 2nd Earl of Chester, after the first Earl of Chester was captured in France. Cheshire, with its strategic location on the Welsh Marches, held county palatine status and king William 1st granted these powers to Hugh along with the Earldom.  The earls of Chester were the most powerful earldoms in medieval England. Even the Magna Carta set down by King John did not apply to Cheshire, effectively the earls ruled over Chester & the palatine with the freedom of Kings. Hugh Lupus also left important legacies of his rule in Chester, namely the weir & causeway which stands across the river Dee and St Werburgh's Benedictine Abbey, built in 1093 (now Chester Cathedral). The weir provided water to power a series of mills along the Dee.


THE  LAND OF MASSEY

And so, King William 1st divided the lands taken at the Conquest between his Barons & Knights. It is written, “I, William, King of England, do give unto Mascy all my right, interest and title to the hop and hopland (valley land) from me & mine with bow and arrow, when I shoot upon yerrow (the place), and in witness to the sooth (action or statement) I seal with my wang tooth” and  “Sites obtained by Hamon l, in addition to the house in Chester and land in Wirrall peninsula, were Ullerton or Owlarton (Domesday book). It is located approx. two miles south-southeast from the town of Knutsford. Going northwest to the Mersey River, Northeast to Bramhall or Bromhale, which in those days would have been two miles s/w from Stockport, thence below Stockport to the Mersey River. With these two lines denoting the s/e and s/w boundary and the Mersey River being the northern boundary of an area having a triangular shape. At about the midway point of the northern boundary on the Mersey River is the river crossing to the City of Manchester original location in Lancaster, north of Chester. This probably marks the area with the greatest holding of the Barons de Massy in Cheshire. With these lands Hamon de Mascy had lesser Lords who held portions thereof for him or under his "right" Examples would be Adae de Carrington and Alano de Tatton. Both constituted Estates granted to Hamon".

NOTE:-

A midway point of the boundary on the river Mersey could be  Stretford on the A56 which crosses the M60 and was the crossing point in Roman times between Manchester and Chester. However, a little further on around the Mersey towards Stockport is another crossing point at Kenworthy in Northenden, (oka  Northern or Norden see page 2). There has been a crossing point here for the salt trade since medieval times which allowed the area to prosper, specifically the areas of Nantwich, Northwich & Middlewich on the Cheshire plain (wich or wic meaning a place where salt could be mined). The salt mines from the 13th century were owned by Sir William de Baguley (Knight), the place of Baguley being a short distance SW of Kenworthy. The crossing point of the Mersey was at Ford Lane close to Mill Lane, both of which lead into Kenworthy lane. The ford was an important way in and out of Manchester, (now Ford lane), as there was no bridge over the Mersey between Sale & Stockport. Evidence of a 13th century mill has been excavated here in Northenden, with a weir located close by. Also, "Hamon Massey, the first baron of Dunham-Massy, held the towns of Dunham, Bowden, Hale, Ashley, and half of Owlerton, in Bucklow hundred, under Hugh Lupus, Earl of Cheshire, in the reign of William the Conqueror; all of which one Edward held formerly, as appears by Domesday Book. So as it seems to me, that this Edward was dispossessed of his right therein, and these lands given to Hamon by Earl Hugh. This Hamon had also in Maxfield Hundred, Bromhale and Puddington in Wirrall Hundred, at the same time, and other lands". From the History of Cheshire by Sir Peter Leycester.


THE  LANDS OF TATTON & MASSEY

The Domesday book & (Ormerod vol 3 p604), confirms One moiety of Tatton was partly under the control of the Knights belonging to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Warrior Crusader Monks of the Knights Hospitaller) & Baron Hamon de Massey received lands (another Moiety in Cheshire), by way of inheritance from his older brother Mathieu de la Fert-Mace who fought at the Battle of Hastings with his brother Hugh de La Ferte-Mace. As a titled follower of King William, Mathiew was granted the lands of Dunham Massey after the conquest, which subsequently passed to his younger brother Hamon de Mace on his death. The first Hamon de Mace (younger brother of Mathieu) was born in La Ferte-Mace in Normandy to Muriel, (a daughter of Viscount Herluin de Conteville) & Guillaume/William de La Ferte-Mace, Viscount of the Bellame family in Normandy. After the Norman conquest of England  1066, Hamon took over from the Saxon thegn  Aelfward according to the Domesday Book. Hamon was made a baron by Hugh Lupus, by his right as Earl of  Chester from c.1071 (vol 1 p520). This would suggest the first Hamon de Massey had received his land titles between 1071 & 1086 whereafter we find the name "Hamo de Mascie" in the Domesday book of 1086 and living at Dunham Massey. Before receiving his titles, Hamon de Massey would need to have reached the age of maturity,  otherwise they would have been held by a family protector. At this time, maturity was believed to have arrived at the age of 14. This is also confirmed in biblical text. For example, "In the 12th century, Canon law jurist Gratian, stated that consent for marriage could not take place before the age of 14 years old for males, as that is the age of reason". The old Saxon common law under Norman rule changed towards a more military control under William 1st, so there would have been a requirement for all male heirs in the nobility to be capable of facing & engaging battle, with a strong emphasis on building bodily strength as well as learning. 


The 2nd baron Hamon de Massey was born at Dunham Massey & many more followed until the death of the last baron in 1341. In reviewing the original history of Cheshire provided by Sir Peter Leycestor & George Ormerod in "The History of the COUNTY PALATINE AND CITY of Chester", Antiquarian Thomas Helsby says, "It has escaped the editor's attention in the account of the barony, that the six descents given by sir Peter Leycester from the Norman conquest, or at all events, from the date of the Domesday Survey to the reign of Edward the second, are far from satisfactory". "The dates given by Leycester and the few descents, stretching over a period of upwards of two centuries, renders the hypothesis far from improbable". (Additional notes at the foot of vol 2 p367). My own personal view is that there should be 8 Barons, not 6. It is also worth mentioning that during his preamble in respect of the 5th Baron de Massey, Sir Peter Leycester (d.1678) added that the "Cheshire Doomsday Book is lost" (vol 1 p521).  It was assumed the original was lost between 1580 and 1647. George Ormerod (b.1785, d.1873), embarked on an investigative study to find the manuscripts making up the whole of the lost Roll. Ormerod's explanation of the title of the Domesday roll of Chester is that, "it was so termed by analogy with the great Survey of 1086, because it supplied equally decisive and irrefragable evidence upon the matters and transactions to which it bore witness". He discovered that many of the rolls had been kept in Chester castle and was described as,"A place of deposit for such documents would be required, and this is probably the origin of the sealed bag or wallet which we find became known as the Baga de Domesday, and contained the records of certain special matters done and to be done at the 'doomsday' meetings. This 'Domesday' Bag seems to have been preserved with very great care, carefully guarded by seals and handed over by one justiciar to his successor with some ceremony".  George Ormerod then established that upon a request to seize the contents of Chester castle, one of the terms of the surrender of Chester by Lord Byron to the parliamentary general, Sir William Brereton, on 3 February 1646/7, was that "all the records in the Castle 'without diminution, embezzling, or defacing' should be given up". "The royal arms were removed from the Shire Hall and those of the earls from the exchequer. The sword of Chester and the mace had been sent up to London as trophies, but were afterwards returned to the city. Among the records which thus should have come into the hands of the chief justice or his deputy, would be the roll constituting the Cheshire 'Domesday', but Vernon, curiously using the same word as in the surrender treaty, tells Dugdale shortly afterwards that it had been 'embezzled'. This suggested it had been removed (stolen) and there the matter was left.  However, in 1771, it was proposed that a copy of the lost  "Domesday Roll of Chester" should be made up from the original Domesday book of 1086, although it is unlikely this was followed up. The request for a copy was because historically Chester had always had its own individual Domesday roll of manuscripts, which was not actually a book, but literally a large number of rolls (about 150).  George Ormerod received much praise for his research with the lost Chester Rolls and it was agreed that his general overview of the study of Leycester's History of Cheshire & the Palatine of Chester probably accounted for most of what would have been in the Chester Roll. 


Originally, as the earldom was sufficiently independent from the kingdom of England the 13th-century Magna Carta did not apply to the shire of Chester, so the  earl  wrote up his own Chester Charter at the petition of his barons. Historically, the original book acquired the name ‘Domesday Book’ because of the huge amount of information that was contained in it. Indeed, it was noted by an observer of the survey that, “there was no single hide nor a yard of land, nor indeed one ox nor one cow nor one pig which was left out”. This led the book to be compared to the Last Judgement, or ‘Doomsday’, described in the Bible, when the deeds of Christians written in the Book of Life were to be placed before God for judgement. The name ‘Domesday Book’ was not adopted until the late 12th Century.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

TATTON & WYTHENSHAWE: -

(Ormerod vol 1 p439). Alan de Tatton, is first recorded in 1185/6 & was granted the seat of Tatton by the order of the Knights of St. John which was part of the barony of Halton. He was appointed the 5th prior of the Knights order in 1190.  In 1195 he was raised to the bishopric of Bangor, but died in 1196. His son, Alanus filius de Tatton assumed the surname of Tatton & was Lord of all Tatton in c.1230. He gave the land of Bruchel to William de Massey (Henry 3rd 1216-), (vol 1 p440). His descendants are, (Quenild de Tatton, William de Tatton, William Fitz Robert de Tatton “these first 3 are mentioned in a grant 1286” & Robert de Tatton in 1297 who was living in Kenworthy). It is recorded that it was the latter William who granted a parcel of land to Richard Massey in 1286, which Peter Hackham, then Prior of the hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England confirmed. Richard Massey went on to purchase all the lands remaining in Tatton & was Sheriff of Chester in 1287 & Judge in 1300. 


The landed Massey & Tatton families intermarried with one another, in so doing they ensured they would continue to benefit from land charters & inheritances.

For example, Alice Massey brought the estate of Wythenshawe to Robert de Tatton of Kenworthy (Edw 3rd 1327-), which in the Inquisition (22 Eliz 1580) is referred to as a “distinct Manor”, with the original charter to Robert de Tatton (1st) of Kenworthy in (25 Edw 1st 1297), (vol 3 p604). In the later charter for the sale of Wythenshawe to Alice de Massey in (44 Edw 3rd 1371), it is mentioned, that according to the Tatton of Wythenshawe pedigree, Alice was the wife of Robert de Tatton. However, Ormerod states there is no record of a marriage & the associated name of Robert de Tatton might have been the son of Robert de Tatton of the same name. However, despite the lack of evidence, Ormerod does allow the argument to stand on the basis of the pedigree & accepts the “possibility” that a marriage took place. The Tatton pedigree for Wythenshaw shows the marriage referred to was actually between Alice de Massey & Robert de Tatton (2nd) - alive in (1 Ric 2nd 1349) and that her grantee would have been her son Robert de Tatton (3rd) in that line.  GL.  Alice of Wythenshaw, being the grantor of the Tattons & heiress to William of Wythenshaw, the last of his line”. Ormerod states that, “the coat of Tatton appears to refer either to this early connection, or to the subsequent marriage with the heiress of Massey of Wythenshaw, being the arms of Massey differenced (in tincture, and) with a crescent in each quarter."  (vol 3 p605).                                                                                                                                               


NORTHENDEN, KENWORTHY & BAGULEY: -

After the invasion of 1066, two of William’s Norman Tenants in Chief, Rannulfus and Bigot jointly held Northenden. Ormerod describes the grant of Northenden in (Vol 3 page 604) of the history of Cheshire. Bigot held the Moiety for the part Northern Etchells, (around Wythenshawe), but Rannulfus granted the other Moiety of Northenden to the Barons of Masce. Ormerod’s history of the County Palatine & City of Chester describes the place Kenworthy, a major & significant part of the Town of Northenden: “Kenworthy, a hamlet, and probably one of those small manors, which were so often, by the earliest subinfeudations, carved out of manors coextensive with their townships”. (vol 3 p604). This manor of Kenworthy, gave its name to a family during the lifetime of Edward 1st 1239-1307, or before & can be found appearing in the plea rolls & charters & witness records for 300 years. The adoption of surnames from a manor during medieval times was common practice and the manorial lords who adopted the name of their fiefdom were not to be taken lightly. Their locative surname was as important, legally, as the knight's seal, and became his domain name & were charter proof of entitlement to his holding, his new domain. The land was carved out for the wealthy descendants of the landed gentry who awarded each other charters, by which they held land under the Baron & King. In 1285 the law entitled “De donis conditionalibus” was passed to ensure grants & inheritances were passed to an heir in fee tail without exception. This changed in (Edw 1st 1290), when the King passed a new law entitled “Quia Emptores” to end this practice between titled land owners, who were protecting their own individual rights & interests. Instead, the new law provided a right for anyone to buy land with cash, although the new tenants obligations to the overlord would remain. After 1290, land continued to be held by the nobles & gentry who simply sold their land to each other. The descendants of families from these ancient areas of land continued to prosper, whilst at the same time intermarrying to ensure a continuation of inheritances. Examples of landed family names in this area of Cheshire at this ancient time include Massey, Tatton, Baguley & Kenworthy. In neighbouring Baguley, Sir William de Baggiley born c1260 was knighted by King Edward I, and later married one of the King's daughters. They owned the Salt Mines in Cheshire and a mill for processing and this is where they made their money. In the reign of Edward II, (1284-1327), Sir William de Baggiley was Lord of Baguley. Sir William built Baguley Hall c.1320 and was Lord of the Manor until his death. He was succeeded by his son John de Baggiley, (born c.1290).


The shield on the Coat of Arms for Kenworthy shown on Burke’s armoury & which was based on an earlier Kenworthy unknown Pedigree in the 19th Century, includes similarities with the Shield on the Massey Coat of Arms. The Shield includes “a Fesse counter-companee” or alternate squares of Red (Gules) and yellow/Gold (Or) on a metal (Silver tincture) background. Kenworthy's Arms is similar in a rectangular fashion unlike the ancient Massey Shield which is quartered in a traditional square.  GL

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Site last updated 31st August 2024

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