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Shropshire and the Norman Conquest |
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Military base
Shrewsbury Castle, built by Roger de Montgomery |
Shropshire was important to William because of its border with Wales. It took the invading Normans four years to suppress England, after which the threat of internal insurgency and attacks from abroad were ever-present.
William was keen to prevent attacks by the unconquered Welsh, and eradicate the risk of an alliance between the Welsh princes and disgruntled and displaced Anglo-Saxon earls. The rebellion led by Edric the Wild in 1069 had demonstrated the willingness of old enemies to join forces in the face of the common, Norman foe. The solution was a strong Norman military presence on the Welsh border.
Roger's first task was to pacify the unruly areas theoretically under English rule, but in reality a dangerous no-man's land. William was also keen for Norman influence to penetrate deeper into Wales.
Montgomery Castle, built beside Roger de Montgomery's original motte and bailey castle
© Wales Tourist Board |
Shrewsbury would be a strategic base from which to launch these invasions. Roger set about his task using the tried and tested method of building large numbers of Norman castles and Shropshire quickly became the most heavily fortified areas in Norman England. Though surviving evidence is scant, it is thought that Roger de Montgomery built as many as 70 motte-and-bailey castles in Shropshire.
As ever, the Norman's construction of castles was accompanied by warfare and occupation. The Norman garrison established at Shrewsbury soon became the launch-pad for attacks into Wales and by 1073, Roger de Montgomery had secured a large tract of Wales stretching as far as Cardigan.
As with other Welsh border areas, known as the Marcher Lands, (Marcher derived from the French for frontier) Shropshire became associated with battles and warfare. Historian Leslie G Pine has noted that the area's high frequency of surnames associated with the Norman nobility testifies to the fact that land-hungry knights flocked to the Marcher region to secure land rights in return for military service: Baskerville, Pigott and Corbett to name but a few.
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