The "Anarchy"

There was civil war in England between 1135 and 1153. Henry I sought to secure the throne for his daughter, Matilda (also known as 'the Empress Maud' - her first marriage was to the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry V), after his only son was killed when the "White Ship" was accidentally sunk shortly after leaving Barfleur in Normandy. Despite Henry's efforts, the throne was seized by his nephew Stephen of Blois who argued that the need to preserve order in England took priority over his earlier oaths to respect Henry I's wishes. (He also asserted that Henry changed his mind on his deathbed.)

There were few 'battles', but civil order broke down - and many of the leading nobles took steps to protect themselves. Croft and Mynard state, "fighting between the two sides was a rare event, commonly taking the form of sieges of major castles around the country." In the Milton Keynes area, at least three motte and bailey castles were quickly erected or enhanced for this purpose. There is an interesting article on motte and bailey castles here.

Wolverton Castle may have been erected by Manno [the Breton] or his son (? or possibly grandson) Meinfelin (who was to found Bradwell Priory after the Anarchy). It was held for King Stephen, and may have been destroyed as a result. The remains of a later castle may still may seen close to the church in Old Wolverton (which makes for a pleasant walk if heading towards the Iron Trunk where the canal crosses the Ouse.)

Shenley Toot is a hidden gem within Shenley Church End. It lies close to the V3 (Fulmer Street) - near a bridge by Shenley Wood Retirement Village. The remains of this motte and bailey castle lie between Oakhill Road and Holy Thorn Lane. It is under the guardianship of the Parks Trust - and there are excellent interpretation boards.

The castle belonged to (and was probably erected by) Hugh, the tenant of Earl Hugh of Chester. (also known as 'Hugh of Avranches';  Hugh the Wolf, or the less complementary 'Hugh the Fat').

Bradwell was held by William Bayeux. Croft and Mynard report that "its origins are thought to be directly related to the Anarchy". William Bayeux was the tenant of Brian Fitz Count, a personal friend of Empress Matilda. The remains lie to the north-east of the Church and south of the village hall.

A. C. Chibnall, in his 1965 book "Sherington Fiefs and Fields of a Buckinghamshire Village" suggests that there may have been similar castles at Newport Pagnell - "A mound known as 'the battery' near the confluence of [the Great Ouse and the Ouzel] marks the site of the castle and the meadow on the opposite bank of the [Ouzel] has been known since the twelfth century as 'castle mead' ... During the anarchy it belonged to Ralph Peynel as part of his barony of Dudley. Ralph held Dudley Castle for the Empress in 1137"; Lavendon and Hanslope. He proposed the following map of the castles in the north of the Milton Keynes area.

The Doomsday Book

At a meeting of his Court in Gloucester at Christmas 1085, William the Conqueror ordered that a survey be undertaken of the country. He wanted to find out ''How many hundreds of hides were in the shire, what land the king himself had, and what stock upon the land; or, what dues he ought to have by the year from the shire.'' He wanted to know the potential for taxing the inhabitants of the land that he had conquered.

Places in today's Milton Keynes are recorded in the survey - which was completed within a year. Sir Frank Markham's "History of Milton Keynes and District" Volume 1 lists them in his chapter on The Normans. 



There is also book available which contains the results of the survey for Buckinghamshire. It is the "Doomsday Book: Buckinghamshire" volume in a series "History from the Sources", edited by John Morris, published by Phillimore. I bought both books in Central Milton Keynes.

The survey lists the owners of land. They may have derived an income from their land, but possibly never visited. All land was the King's, but he gave an interest in the land to his "tenants", they in turn gave lesser interests to other people. The Doomsday Book records entries - as for Hugh of Bolbec

"[In Seckloe Hundred] - In (Great) Linford - Hugh holds 2 hides and 1.5 virgates as one manor. Land for 2 ploughs; in Lordship 1. 5 villagers with 2 smallholders have 1 plough. Meadow there for 1 plough. The value is and was 20s; before 1066, 40s. Three thanes held the manor; they could grant and sell."

or for the Bishop of Bayeux 
"[in Moulsoe Hundred] - In (Little) Brickhill Thurstan holds 1 hide from the Bishop. Land for 1 plough, but there is no plough there, only 3 villagers with 2 smallholders. The value is and was 14s; before 1066, 20s. Alwin, Estan's man, held this manor; he could not grant or sell outside Brickhill, Estan's manor."

(translations from  "History from the Sources: Doomsday Book: Buckinghamshire - ed. John Morris)

A "Hide" was a unit of measurement designed originally to represent the amount of land sufficient to support a household. Although sometimes described as being 120 acres (49 hectares), it varied according to the nature of the land. One source says that "there was a tendency for land producing £1 of income per year to be assessed at 1 hide." A virgate was usually, but not always considered as a quarter of a hide.

The survey, undertaken 20 years after William led the invasion from Normandy, shows evidence that "to the victor go the spoils". The following list show where particular people had holdings, it is not signify that they held the whole of the property in that village. {Note - this is NOT an exhaustive list]

William's half brothers head our list -

Odo of Bayeux (Earl of Kent and Bishop of Bayeux)
- Little Brickhill

Robert, Count of Mortain
- Caldecote
- Lavendon
- Loughton
- Great Linford
- Wavendon
- Weston Underwood
- Woughton

Other Landholders included

Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances
- Clifton Reyes
- Emberton
- Lathbury
- Lavendon
- Little Linford
- Olney
- Sherington
- Simpson
- Stoke Goldington
- Tyringham
- Water Eaton
- Weston Underwood

Earl Hugh of Chester
- Shenley Church End
- Great Brickhill

Richard Ingania (the Artificer)
- Shenley Brook End

Urso of Bercheres
- Shenley Brook End

Gilbert Maminot, Bishop of Lisieux
- Brickhill

William, son of Ansculf
- Bradwell 
- Caldecote
- Chicheley
- Great Linford
- Hardmead
- Little Woolstone
- Milton Keynes
- Newport Pagnell
- Tickford
- Tyringham

Hugh of Bolbec
- Calverton
- Great Linford
- Hardmead
- Wavendon

Mainou (Manno) the Breton
- Loughton
- Stoke Hammond
- Wolverton (can I recommend Bryan Dunleavy's excellent book - Manno's Manor: A History of Wolverton)

Magna Carta Day

802 years ago, King John was forced to do a deal with rebel barons on the meadows of Runnymede. They had become exasperated with his abuse of executive power - and demanded a halt.

I|n doing so they forced him to concede a principle which is central to the modern British Constitution - that the Executive must operate within the bounds of its legal authority.

It was a start - and although John sought to renege on it (and provoked a civil war which ended with his death)"., the principle remains. It has been developed further.But today we can rightly celebrate what happened on those Surrey meadows over eight centuries ago.

https://www.bl.uk/magna-carta