WURTS’ MAGNA CHARTA provided a brief accounting of the feudal headquarters of some
of the Magna Charta Barons. Some of the castles have been badly damaged. Some have
disappeared entirely. Often we can learn of them through Medieval and Renaissance
accounts, and some of them require the discerning eye of the archeologist. Others await
the evidence brought out with a shovel and pick, by the trained archeological historian.
A portion of the information concerning Surety Baron WILLIAM de HUNTINGFIELD is as
follows:
Dover Castle, the stronghold which William de Huntingfield held in the Barons' War, is
a famous one, fulfilling the dream of the grim place of nameless cruelties and horrible
prisons. It was built near the site of the ancient Roman Pharos or lighthouse. Legends
attest that once William the Conqueror advised Harold to fortify it, then to deliver it up
to the Normans when the time came, for it was a stout coastal defense. Harold was
allegedly enticed to swear to do this, but if he did swear it, he took his oath lightly.
The Castle was completed by the son of Godwin, and was set high upon a rock above the
sea. The rock was cut so that it was flush with the wall. By 1066 Dover Castle was
thoroughly established, but there is no doubt that the wide encircling walls, the sturdy
watch towers and massive keep are Norman. Even so, there were probably Roman and Saxon
forts on the same site. The keep is believed to have been erected by Henry II about 1154.
But the whole Castle, as we can envision it today, dates to a much earlier period.
WILLIAM de HUNTINGFIELD, the Surety, born about 1165, married Isabel Gressinghall,
widow of Osmond de Stuteville. He was made constable of Dover Castle in 1204, and
delivered up his son and daughter as hostages for his loyalty to the King. The son was to
remain with the Earl of Arundel, the daughter with Earl Ferrers.
He was one of five wardens of the Ports of Norfolk and Suffolk from 1210 to 1212, and
the following year he was one of the itinerant justices of Lincoln. He was high sheriff of
Norfolk and Suffolk until the end of 1214. He witnessed King John's grant of freedom of
election to churches in 1214. He was governor of Sauvey Castle in Leistershire when he
joined the cause of the Barons in arms against King John, and was excommunicated by the
Pope. His lands were then given to Nicholas de Haya. According to the close and patent
rolls he was one of the men actively in rebellion against King John before the issuance of
Magna Charta. Very likely the cause of the Protector's severity toward Huntingfield was
that he was one of those who plotted to have the Dauphin come to England and, after the
Dauphin's landing, was very active in reducing the Courts of Essex and Suffolk to French
authority. He fought at Lincoln 20 May 1217, and was taken prisoner by the King's forces.
William had a daughter, Alice Huntingfield, who was married twice, but the name of her
first husband has not been preserved. Her father paid the King a fine of "six fair
Norway Goshawks," in the 15th of King John, for permission to marry Alice, his
daughter, then a widow, to Richard de Solers. William de Huntingfield, the Surety, died 25
January 1220/1 on a Crusade.
Appreciation is expressed to Reed M. W. Wurts, one of the Heralds of the Society for
furnishing the Baron’s Shield on this page.