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By Don Maddox
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WALTER
DE LACY
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Walter de Lacy
Walter de Lacy had many good days. He was born at Lassy
in Normandy, came over with the Conqueror and was very
efficient in helping to quell the Welsh frontier. His
reward was vast tracts of land throughout Herefordshire
& Shropshire. He has left his name at Mansell Lacy,
Holme Lacy etc.
But one day in 1085 was not so good for
Walter. He was financing the building of (the original)
St. Peter's Church, Hereford, when, inspecting the work,
fell off a ladder and was killed..
His estates passed to his son, Roger,
whose power base was Weobley. Roger was still holding
these at the time of the Domesday Book. At Letton he
had a steward, Tesselin, who was overseer of the land
(maybe 450 acres), the seven settlers , two slaves (probably
Welshmen and reflecting that slavery was an accepted
part of Anglo Saxon economics), a mill and a priest.
Letton was doing well. At the time of
the Conquest its 'rateable value' was 2/- (10p) but
now it was 30/- (£1.50).
This contrasts with nearby villages which
had suffered attacks by the Welsh who might well have
been aggrieved at being pushed further west from the
Offa's Dyke, which lies 4 miles towards Hereford from
Letton. Winforton, Willersley, Whitney, Eardisley and
Kinnersley had all been recorded as 'wasted' in 1066
though Kinnersley and Winforton were showing signs of
recovery.
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LETTON'S
DEFENCES
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Letton is not described as 'waste' at
any point. Perhaps it was flooded every time the Welsh
invaded. Or it might have had a good defensive position.
The Wye, at that time, used to curve around behind the
church. It's entirely speculative that the well-defined
(still existing) moat that would have connected the
old Wye to Letton Brook was built at that time. If so,
it would isolate the budding village from too much harassment.
It also had a priest - which implies a
church that preceded the present one. The de Lacy's
certainly built a stone one. The north wall of the nave
remains of this structure.
Continue
to the next page...
© Don Maddox (2004)
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