Walter of Douai

Walter of Douai (born c.1046 died: c.1107) was a Norman knight, probably at the Battle of Hastings, and a major landowner in South West England after the Norman Conquest, being feudal baron of Bampton in Devon and of Castle Cary in Somerset. He is given various names and titles in different sources including: Walter (or Walschin or Walscin) de Douai. Douai is sometimes written as Dowai. He has also been called Gautier de Douai and later Walter the Fleming.

Family

Walter was the son of Urso of Douai, that is now a commune in the Nord département in northern France. Located on the river Scarpe some 40 km from Lille and 25 km from Arras. He may have had two brothers Fouque and Goselin, who also fought at the Battle of Hastings and another brother Hugh who did not come to England.^[1]

He married Emma (or Eddeva)^[2] of Devon, and may have had two children Richilde de Douai and Ralph (of Tintinhull) Lovel. He also had a second wife.^[3]

Norman Conquest

In 1066 the Normans invaded south-east England, defeating the English forces at the Battle of Hastings. Walter in all probability fought at Hastings, yet he is not one of the proven Companions of William the Conqueror, as he was not recorded as having been such by contemporary chroniclers, who made notice of only 15 out of the many hundreds there.

In the aftermath of the victory, William the Conqueror entrusted the conquest of the south-west of England to his half-brother Robert of Mortain.^[4] Expecting stiff resistance, Robert marched west into Somerset, supported by forces under Walter of Douai, who entered from the north; a third force, under the command of William de Moyon, landed by sea along the Somerset coast.^[5]

Post Conquest

Following the defeat of the Saxons by the Normans in 1066, various castles were set up in Somerset by the new lords such as that at Dunster, and the manors were awarded to followers of William the Conqueror such as William de Moyon and Walter of Douai.^[6]

Walter of Douai was feudal baron of Bampton in Devon and of Castle Cary in Somerset.^[7]

After the Norman invasion the land on which Bridgwater stands was given to Walter of Douai,^[6] hence becoming known variously as Burgh-Walter, Brugg-Walter and Brigg-Walter, eventually corrupted to Bridgwater. An alternative version is that it derives from "Bridge of Walter" (i.e. Walter's Bridge).^[8][9]

In the Domesday Book of 1086 Walter was described as holding land in Worle, Somerset,^[10] Weare, Sparkford and Bratton Seymour.^[11][12]

Others holdings in Somerset and Devon included: Allerton, Alstone, Alston Sutton, Ansford, Badgworth, Bathealton, Bawdrip, Bradney, Bratton Seymour, Brean, Burnham on Sea, Chilcompton, Crook, Dunwear, Horsey, Huntspill, Pawlett, Sparkford, Stretcholt, Tarnock, Walpole, Watchet, Wembdon Wincanton, Berrynarbor, Coleridge (Stokenham), Combe Raleigh, Dipford, Dunsford, Goodrington, Greenway, Kerswell (Hockworthy), Knowstone, Little Rackenford, Luppitt, Mohuns Ottery, Shapcombe, Spurway, Stoke Fleming, Townstal, Uffculme, Woodcombe and Holacombe. Many of these were let to tenants.^{[1][13][14][15]}

Cary Castle, a motte and bailey castle was built either by Walter of Douai or by his son Robert who also built Bampton Castle in Devon.^[16] He was also holder of the land on which Cockroad Wood Castle was built.^[17]

References

1. "Norman Origins". The Dowie Family Name. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
2. Green p. 66
3. Keats-Rohan page 39
4. Prior, pp.74–75.
5. Prior, p.75.
6. Dunning, 2001 p.21
7. Sanders, I.J., English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, pp.5, 27
8. Robinson
9. Farr pages 101-116
10. "History". Worle village. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
11. "Bratton Seymour". Victoria County History. British History Online. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
12. Fleming pages 132, 133, 235 & 246
13. "Devonshire Manors in the Domesday Book". Hemyock Castle. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
14. "Domesday Somerset". Somerset County Council. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
15. Page, William. "The Land of Walter de Dowai". Text of the Somerset Domesday: Part 2', A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 1 (1906), pp. 479-526. British History Online. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
16. Dunning, 1995 page 32-33
17. "Motte and Bailey Castle, Cockroad Wood, Charlton Musgrove". Somerset County Historic Environmental Record. Somerset County Council. Retrieved 18 July 2011.

Bibliography

• Bush, Robin (1994). Somerset: The Complete Guide. Dovecote Press. p. 214. ISBN 1-874336-26-1.
• Dunning, Robert (1995). Somerset Castles. Tiverton: Somerset Books. ISBN 978-0-86183-278-1.
• Dunning, Robert (2001). Somerset Monasteries. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-1941-2.
• Farr, Grahame (1954). Somerset Harbours. London: Christopher Johnson.
• Fleming, Robin (2003). Domesday Book and the Law: Society and Legal Custom in Early Medieval England. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-52846-7.
• Green, Judith A. (2002). The Aristocracy of Norman England. Cambridge University Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-521-52465-0.
• Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (1999). Prosopography of persons occurring in English documents, 1066-1166, Volume 1. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85115-722-1.
• Prior, Stuart. (2006) The Norman Art of War: a Few Well-Positioned Castles. Stroud, UK: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-3651-1.
• Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press Ltd. ISBN 1-874336-03-2.