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Hendomen 2
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| For many years it was assumed that Roger crossed the channel with William in 1066 and took part in the battle of Hastings, but it is now believed that he remained in Normandy as a trusted Seigneur of William and joined a council with Mathilda, William’s wife, to rule and protect the Dukedom while William campaigned in England. The Conqueror’s land was often threatened by his neighbours and he held an uneasy peace with the French king. Roger also claimed kinship with William. His father, Roger the First, married a niece [Josceline] of Gunnor, Duke Richard the First’s wife and much improved his position - further added to by plundering the church. Roger the Second took part in the siege of Domfront in southern Normandy and, as was his father before him, was made Count of the Hiémois, he married Mabel of Belleme, to acquire her land and power and secondly, Adelaide of Puiset. | |
| Today one can see, in the recently restored castle at Falaise in the South of Normandy, a large plaque with the names of 315 seignieurs or barons who came to England with William. Roger's name is on the list but it is known that he did not cross the channel until December 1067, a year after William had been crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066. The plaque was removed to the Hotel de Ville at the entrance to the castle grounds while restoration work was in progress in the 1990’s. | |
| When Roger eventually crossed to England and erected his timber castle at Montgomery, he gave it the name of his ancestral home in the department of Calvados. Some 150 years later the name was given to the stone castle a mile or so to the south and eventually to the county which came in to being in 1535. It is the only county in the United Kingdom to hold a Norman name. | |
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Aerial view of Hendomen from the North with the modern farm top right and the medieval field system just visible to the right of the monument. By kind permission of the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust |
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| Today’s visitor to this motte will not fail to be impressed by the well chosen site, even though trees obscure some of the view, a view which would have been more impressive from the top of the wooden tower. What height this tower reached, we do not know, but it would have been sufficient to have given oversight of the Rhydwyman crossing of the River Severn which flows to the north; a shallow crossing which played an important part in the history of this area for years to come. | |
| There are 7 pages on the norman origins of Hendomen. Use the box links below to view the other pages | |
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