ABSTRACT
The royal Norman dynasty in England survived for less than ninety years after the battle of Hastings. The Norman Conquest of England was simply their largest and most surprising territorial expansion, but in retrospect it can be seen as the watershed that marked the emergence of a new European power. William felt confident enough to return to Normandy in 1067, but although a rising at Dover was successfully subdued he found it necessary to build further castles on his return later that year. The account for Cheshire gives details of waste not only for 1066 and 1086, but also for the date when the Norman owner received the estate. William’s personal interest, his main concern being with England south of York and his native Normandy, where he spent more than half of the last sixteen years of his life. During the Anarchy, as well as the extensive construction of siege works, churches and monastic sites were fortified.
