The
battlefield of Hastings saw the death of the English King Harold, but it was at
Berkhamsted that the most powerful Anglo-Saxons surrendered to William of
Normandy. Following the great Sussex battle, William and his army had marched
through Kent, around London, perhaps to the ancient capital of Winchester,
across the Thames at Wallingford and along the ancient Icknield Way to the
valley of the River Bilbourne. The Roman road, Akeman Street, probably ran
along this valley. At Berkhamsted "... Archbishop Ealdred came to meet him, with Eadgar cild [Edgar the Ætheling], and Earls Edwin and Morcar, and all the best men from London" (Anglo Saxon Chronicle - Manuscript D) and they acknowledged his
right to the kingdom. From there he made his way to London, where he was
crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066.
Within a
couple of tears a Motte and Bailey castle was erected by his half brother,
Robert of Mortain. It stood where a couple of valleys (now dry) met the main
valley of the River Bilbourne.
For more on
the history of the castle, please return to this blog.
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