Hereward the Wake

Hereward the Wake - Also known as the Outlaw and the Exile, this 11th-century Anglo-Saxon led the British resistance against William the Conquerer and the invading Normans. His base was the Isle of Ely, from where he and his followers roamed the Fens.

In 1071, Hereward and his followers fought a battle against William at Ely, which they lost, although Hereward escaped to continue his resistance. Just south of the village of Aldreth lies Belsar's Hill, a circular feature believed by some to be the site of a fort built by William from which to attack Hereward.

Hereward the Wake - (c. 1035 – 1072), known in his own times as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile, was an 11th-century Anglo-Danish leader (cited by author Peter Rex- hence the rebel leader's ability to call upon Scandinavian aid in 1069) involved in resistance to the Norman conquest of England. ... For example, in the part of England in which Hereward originated, the DaneLaw - old Danish Law then applicable permitted bigamy. ... It is thought that he had already rebelled against Edward the Confessor before 1066, whom he saw as already aligning England with the Normans, and that he was declared an outlaw as a result. It has been suggested that, at the time of the Norman invasion of England, he was in exile in Europe, working as a successful mercenary for the Count of Flanders, Baldwin V, and that he then returned to England.

Hereward the Outlaw (Wake) - Stood up to the Normans after the conquest. Around 1070 (?) he made his last stand either at Ely or on one of the nearby Isles. Yes, Ely was an island above the marshes and flooded Fens. When Meres really meant something. All of the following can be found on any encyclopaedia - but it can still be of interest.

Herward the Wake was a Saxon Thegn. A thegn was a Saxon nobleman. In service to the King they were indispensable to law and order. Until the Norman conquest of 1066, of course. Hereward came back from exile in around 1070 to stand up to William. For nearly a year he held the isles. To the victor comes the writing of history. Little is known of this man, Hereward. Centuries before 'Robin Hood' he stood up to oppression.

The Wake 1070 -71 Anglo-Saxon rebel against William the Conqueror and the hero of many Norman and English legends. He is associated with a region in present-day Huntingdonshire and Northamptonshire.

In 1070, expecting a conquest of England by King Sweyn II of Denmark, Hereward and some followers joined a force of Danish sailors who had come to Ely. Together they sacked Peterborough Abbey, perhaps to prevent its treasures from falling into the hands of the new Norman abbot, Turold. Soon after, Sweyn made peace with William the Conqueror, and so the Danes returned home. Hereward, however, established himself on the Isle of Ely, which in 1071 became a refuge for Anglo-Saxon fugitives, notably Morcar, earl of Northumbria. William's forces eventually captured the isle after a methodical assault, but Hereward managed to escape. He is the hero of Charles Kingsley's last novel, Hereward the Wake (1866).

Hereward the Wake - Hereward the Wake (c. 1035 – 1072), known in his own times as Hereward the Outlaw as or Hereward the Exile, was an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon leader involved in resistance to the Norman conquest of England. According to legend, Hereward's base was in the Isle of Ely, and he roamed The Fens, covering North Cambridgeshire, Southern Lincolnshire and West Norfolk, leading popular opposition to William the Conqueror. The name Hereward is composed of Old English roots here = army, and weard = guard^[1], and is cognate with Old High German Heriwart and modern German Heerwart. The title "the Wake" (meaning "watcher") was popularly assigned to him many years after his death.

In 1069 or 1070 the Danish king Sweyn Estrithson sent a small army to try to establish a camp on the Isle of Ely. They were joined by many, including Hereward. His first act was to storm and sack Peterborough Abbey in 1070, in company with local men and Swein's Danes:^[10] his justification is said to have been that he wished to save the Abbey's treasures and relics from the Normans.

In 1071 he and many others made a desperate stand on the Isle of Ely against the Conqueror's rule. Some say that the Normans made a frontal assault, aided by a huge mile-long timber causeway, but that this sank under the weight of armour and horses. It is said that the Normans, probably led by one of William's knights named Belasius (Belsar), then bribed the monks of the island to reveal a safe route across the marshes, resulting in Ely's capture. Hereward is said to have escaped with some of his followers into the wild fenland, and to have continued his resistance.

The 12th century chronicle, Gesta Herewardi, (of unknown authorship: first published by Thomas Wright in 1839 and translated by W. Sweeting for the 1895 edition), says Hereward was eventually pardoned by William and lived the rest of his life in relative peace. The other possibility is Hereward received no such pardon and went into exile never to be heard from again. As this was the fate of a lot of prominent English men after the Conquest it is a distinct possibility.

Hereward was probably born around the year 1040 in Lincolnshire. Legend gives his parents as Earl Leofric of Mercia and Lady Godiva, although given his name it is more likely his father was one of the many Danes who had settled in the area. Hereward's childhood is a complete mystery, although it is thought that sometime in his late teens or early twenties, he managed to get himself outlawed by King Edward the Confessor. Being an outlaw, Hereward left England and went adventuring. There are many tales from this time, such as his travels to the Orkneys, his fight with a giant named Ironhook, and his most famous exploit, the slaying of the white bear. During his adventures, he became a mercenary in the service of the King of Flanders and fought many battles for the king. While in Flanders he may, or may not, have got married to a woman who may, or may not, have been a witch.

As the tales go, Hereward returned to England in secret a year later, ambushed and killed the Normans who had taken up residence in his ancestral home, and raised the surrounding countryside into rebellion. With a group of loyal followers, Hereward led a guerilla war against the Normans from the swampy fen-country in Anglia.

This attack caused William the Conqueror to consider Hereward a major threat. William bribed king Swein to give up his claim to the throne, and the Danish Army sailed away. Still, Hereward did not give up his fight. He rallied more of the oppressed Anglo-Saxon population to his banner and made a base at the island monastery of Ely, a solid chunk of rock in the midst of a vast bog. Several famous personages joined his cause including Earl Morcar of Northumbria.

Fearing that Hereward's rebellion might spread all over the country, William personally led a major offensive against Ely. His first idea was to construct a long wooden causeway supported on floats to march his army across the bog. On the day of the attack, Hereward moved a number of archers into a position to ambush the army. As the army marched across the causeway, they were met by a stream of arrows. The ensuing panic caused the causeway to shake and eventually collapse into the bog. Armored in their heavy mail hauberks, the Norman knights were unable to swim and many were drowned in the bog.

It was an embarrassing and costly setback, but William knew that the island was well stocked and could survive a siege indefinitely, thus he was forced to consider attacking again. After consulting with his advisers, Williams decided, somewhat reluctantly, to enlist the aid of dark magic. Although it might sound as though the story is slipping into fairytale, it should be remembered that most people at this time fully believed in such things. William ordered that the causeway be rebuilt, but much stronger. Also, a large wooden tower was built near the causeway. As William launched a new assault on the island, a witch was taken to the top of the tower, from where she screamed her dark spells down on the island's defenders. But again, Hereward was ready. Again he had sent out ambushers. This time, instead of arrows, they attacked with fire. With the wind at their backs, the defenders set fire to the fens. The fire quickly spread, enveloping the causeway and the wooden tower. Many Norman knights and the witch were burned to death.

Seeing his second attack end in a greater disaster than the first, William decided upon a completely different tactic. Using his spies, William was able to convince the monks on Ely to betray the defenders. The monks led William's army on a secret path to the island, and caught the defenders unprepared. It is at this moment that history loses track of Hereward the Wake. Legend says that he escaped the attack, and considering that no historical account states that he was either killed or captured, this seems quite likely.

Regarding Hereward we are again left with legends and stories. Most of these are tales of how he continued his resistance to William, striking from secret bases with small bands of men. Eventually though, Hereward grew tired of the constant fighting which he recognized as futile. He sent word to William that he wished to make peace. William welcomed Hereward with open arms, pardoned him for his crimes, and proposed a marriage to an Anglo-Saxon noble woman. Hereward's first wife, if she existed, is said to have become a nun. In this way, Hereward became a servant of William and one of the King's top military commanders.

Hereward the Wake was said to be the ancestor of the family of Wake of Liddell mentioned in the genealogy of the Hungerfords whose descendants were the Winters of Wych.

Hereward (the English form of the Anglo-Saxon Harold) was supposed to have been the son of Leofric of Mercia or connected with the royal house of that kingdom to whom the manor of Bourne belonged. According to the Peterborough MSS, his parentage is given as: "Hujus igitur pater fuit quidam Lefricus de Brunne, nepos comitis Radulfi cognominati Scalre et mater Aedine trinepta Oslaci ducis, utroque parente nobilissime progenitus." (whose father was Leofric of Bourne, nephew (or grandson) of Count Ralph the Staller and his mother Adina, grand daughter of earl Oslac). Ralph the Staller (Aelfgar Scalre) was the Edward the Confessor's Master of the Horse and Earl of East Anglia (consisting of Norfolk and Suffolk). Earl Oslac was exiled in AD 975.

Hereward was described as short, stout but agile with long golden hair and light eyes which did not quite match. His first wife was Torfrida, a Fleming and reputedly a witch who took the veil when he later abandoned her for Dolfin's daughter.

Bourne Archive FNQ Hereward English - The Deeds of Hereward, the Renowned Soldier - Based on an original English text by Leofric the Deacon, a colleague of Hereward and rewritten by Hugh Candidus - Of what parents Hereward was born, and how from his boyhood he increased in the splendour of his deeds, and why he was driven forth by his father and country ; whence he was surnamed “The Outlaw".

Of the nations of the English many very mighty men are recorded, and Hereward the Outlaw is esteemed most distinguished amongst the distinguished, and a famous knight with the more famous. His father was Leofric, of Bourne, grandson of Earl Radulf, surnamed Scabre ; and his mother was Aediva great-great-granddaughter of Duke Oslac ; most nobly descended by both parents. For he was a boy remarkable for his figure, and comely in aspect, very beautiful from his yellow hair, and with large grey eyes, the right eye slightly different in colour to the left ; but he was stern of feature, and somewhat stout, from the great sturdiness of his limbs, but very active for his moderate stature, and in all his limbs was found a complete vigour... his father begged King Edward that he might be banished, making known everything he had done against his father and parents, and against the country people. And this was done. Whence forthwith he acquired the surname of the Outlaw, being driven from his father and country in the 18th year of his age.

When Gisebritus of Gant heard of this, namely his banishment, he sent for him, for Hereward was the godson of that rich man, and he set out beyond Northumberland and came to him, abandoning his own province and paternal inheritance, with a single servant, Martin, whose surname was Lightfoot. ...Hereward went to a certain Prince of Cornwall, called Alef ... Hereward, was honourably received by the son of the king of Ireland ... adherents of the king in the neighbourhood begged and entreated Hereward with his men to take part in the battle and to help them ...

Cum quibus nec non et alii in militia probatissimi adhus computati sunt, Lefricus Diaconus et Villicus de Draitone, atque Turkillus et Utlamhe, id est Exhulis, cocus Herewardii, Hogor cognatus Herwardi, Winter et Liueret duo praecleri et Rapenaldus dapifer de Ramesis."

Edward [Edgar] "the Outlaw" (Utlamhe) or Atheling, son of Edward Edmundson called Ironside, was heir to the English throne.

Turkillus was Thorkill of Ardern, sheriff of Warwickshire, a pre-Conquest Norman. Thorkill possessed vast lands in Warwickshire in 1086, part of which had been seized from other Englishmen. The property was valued at more than £120 (increased by a third between 1066 and 1086), assessed at over 35 hides for the geld and consisting of nearly 220 ploughs. The major part of Thorkill's lands passed to Roger of Beaumont, Earl of Warwick and Leicester - Thorkill's heirs were Beaumont's military tenants.

Arden family - Alwin (Æthelwine), nephew of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, was Sheriff of Warwickshire at the time of the Norman Conquest. He was succeeded by his son, Thorkell of Arden (variously spelt Thorkill, Turchil etc.)

Flanders was the traditional refuge for the Saxon royalty of England. The Flemings were Saxons who fled to the Netherlands (called Fleanderland or the "land of those who fled") and its Counts were descended from King Alfred the Great.

Hereward the Wake - Translated by Michael Swanton Originally Published in Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Tales

Many very mighty men are recorded from among the English people, and the outlaw Hereward is reckoned the most distinguished of all -- a notable warrior among the most notable. Of very noble descent from both parents, his father was Leofric of Bourne, nephew of Earl Ralph the Staller; and his mother was Eadgyth, the great-great-niece of Duke Oslac. As a boy he was remarkable for his figure and handsome in his features, very fine with his long blond hair, open face and large gray eyes -- the right one slightly different from the left
...
Hereward, now eminent in all military matters, returned to England together with his two nephews and his loving wife Turfrida...
...
In company with these was also a certain Tunbeorht, a great nephew of Earl Edwin, and Leofwine Prat, that is "the Dodger," who was called this because although often captured by enemies he had astutely escaped, frequently killing his guards. And in addition to these must be numbered others also very experienced in warfare: Leofric the Deacon, the Bailiff of Drayton;

Thurcytel AND Utlamhe -- that is to say, "the Outlaw";

So here we have "The Outlaw" with Hereward !!!
Thurcytel and Utlamhe "The Exile" -- that is to say, "Outlaw the Exile";

One Hundred years later we have a reconnection of Outlaw and Ketel back at the Fens :

[ So we see that "de Utlage" "the/of/from Outlaw" could be connected with Hereward "the Outlaw" or Edgar "the Utlamhe".

Notice that the Vtlage's are directly connected to the Glanville's later in 1169 with Bromholm Priory.

It is very interesting that these "Rebel's and Outlaw's" , Robin Hood "the Outlaw" legend and others , post-conquest come from the very same area as the first Utlage's that surface in records 1170-1210 AD !! ]

Here we can show that the early Utlag's may have originally been from East Anglia and may have been of the Wuffings (Geatish/Swedish origins) or Viking Danish....

By the time of King Edwy and King Edgar the Utlag's may have been politically connected to the land of East Anglia which was now an earldom . ...

A history of Norfolk - Norfolk before the Normans.

THE EARLIER DANES

The people of whose existence we have the first tangible and undoubted proof in our county are, to my mind, the Danes, whose first, and I think hitherto unsuspected, invasion, I hope to show was before that of the Romans, and not after those of the Romans and Saxons.

As I shall prove hereafter, there are — chiefly in the N.E, half of the county — 256 places, either identical wholly (78) or in part (53) in name with villages still in Denmark, or provable to be Danish by their prefixes or affixes (125). How many more in the same district were also colonized by the Danes, it is now impossible to say ; but it is clear that the colonization — whenever it took place — was in that part of the county almost an exclusive one. That it was anterior to the Romans seems to me clear, for we find the root syllables of Brancaster and Tasburgh represented to this day in Denmark ; and it is absurd to suppose that this enormous and comprehensive invasion was the result of the intermittent rushes of the pirate Danes of the ninth and tenth centuries. As my proposed transference of epochs is sure to meet with determined opposition, I must be excused if I go into the question of Danish settlements in Norfolk at considerable length.
...
Again, the acceptance of the theory of ' transplantation ' of place-names frees us from the absurdity of many of our so-called derivations. We need no longer believe that Scarning was a 'dirty village,' or Dereham so called from its deer, that Burnham Deepdale was so called from a non-existent dale, that Felbrigg
was a bridge where there was no water, or that Pulham was a village of wells, or that Ling-wood meant a wood of ling.
...
Grant that place-names were transplanted in ages ago as they are now-a-days, we may easily understand that the original Danish village may well have been in a dale, while the Norfolk one that took its name from it is on a hill. Besides these absolute identities, we find there are fifty-three names of places the first and characteristic parts of which are identical with those of Danish villages, viz.

Connected to this and the association of Hereward with his companions we have this:

There is, however, one exception to the rule of the tabula rasa of post-Conquest personal commemoration in England, and that is the Gesta Henewardi, a story which has been unfairly neglected by modern historians. (32) The Latin text, as we have it now as part of the Peterborough cartulary, was written between 1109 and 1131 by a clerk at Ely, probably called Richard. He used a now lost Old English biography by Hereward's chaplain Leofric which he claims to have combined with the reminiscences of several of Hereward's companions, two of whom he names as Siward of Bury St Edmunds and Leofric the Black. (33)
Bearing in mind that 1066 veterans survived well into the twelfth century, as I stressed, I have absolutely no doubt that Richard of Ely consulted' these elderly eyewitnesses... the kernel of it is substantially corroborated by details from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, John of Worcester and documentary texts. ...

In company with those was also one Turbentinus, great-grandson of Earl Edwin, and Lefwinus Prat, that is, The Crafty, because though often captured by his enemies he had cunningly escaped, many times killing his very guards, whence his surname. And with them moreover others most experienced in warfare must be reckoned, Leofric the Deacon, and Villicus* of Drayton, and Turkillys, and Utlamhe, that is The Outlaw, Hereward's cook, Hogor, his kinsman, Winter and Liveret, two men of mark, and Rapenaldus, steward of Ramsey; these were standard bearers. So too were Wluricus, The Black, and Wluricus, The White, Wluricus Grugam, Ylardus, Godwinus Gille, Outi, and another also named Outi, with those named before, and those two splendid men, Siward and Siward, the Red, who were Hereward's nephews. With these then there were other very famous knights, Godricus of Corby, Hugo the Norman, a priest, and Ylardus his brother, Leofric the Deacon, Tosti of Rothwell, and Godwinus of Rothwell, Osbernus, Alsinus, Lefwinus Prat, Hurchillus, and Villicus* of Drayton. All of these were the most renowned and splendid knights in the whole kingdom; and there were several others, whom it would be tedious to enumerate individually.

One of history's "greatest Englishmen" wasn't really English at all. Hereward the Wake, the guerrilla leader who fought William the Conqueror for five years from 1066, was, according to new research, a high-ranking Dane.
...
But an in-depth study, Hereward, the Last Englishman, to be published this week, reveals that Hereward was the son of a prominent Anglo-Danish magnate called Asketil.

The research by the historian Peter Rex sheds a fascinating light on the political circumstances of the time. Ever since the late ninth-century Viking raids, parts of eastern England had often come under Danish control - and for some of the 11th century the whole of England became part of a vast Danish empire, which also included Norway, southern Sweden.
...
England became the subject of a geopolitical tug-of-war between the Scandinavians and the Normans.

The half-Norman English king Edward the Confessor was intensely pro-Norman, while his half-Danish successor Harold was supported by the Anglo-Danish community.

In 1066 the country was invaded by both the Scandinavians and the Normans, both of whom were determined to seize permanent control of England.

As an ethnic Dane, Hereward was intensely anti-Norman, probably even more so than many Anglo-Saxons.

He was able to enlist military support from Denmark itself, the new research reveals, and in 1069 the Danish royal family and the Danish church sent a small army across the North Sea to assist Hereward.

As a result of his long guerrilla campaign and by avoiding the attentions of the William's soldiers he earned the popular title "the Wake", meaning "the watchful". One tradition had claimed that the tag stemmed from his links to an old Norman family from the Channel Islands, the Wakes, but this has largely been discounted.

"I believe that my new research is important because, for the first time, it places Hereward in an Anglo-Scandinavian geopolitical setting rather than a purely Anglo-Saxon one," said Mr Rex.

"This new perspective changes the way we understand the English resistance to the Norman conquest."

The resistance leader proves to have been a born rebel, disruptive under the pro-Norman Edward the Confessor and outlawed by royal decree. He seems to have learnt his fighting skills in the Low Countries, where he worked for a succession of Flemish magnates, and was finally appointed mercenary supremo by the Count of Flanders.

After the Normans won the Battle of Hastings, however, Hereward couldn't resist the temptation to return to England to give William the Conqueror a hard time. Eventually he lost, and was believed to have been killed.

CHAPTER XXIII 27-28 HOW HEREWARD GATHERED AN ARMY.
...
And now poured into Bourne from every side brave men and true: some great holders dispossessed of their land; some the sons of holders who were not yet dispossessed; some Morcar's men, some Edwin's, who had been turned out by the king; and almost all of them, probably, blood relations of Hereward's, or of King Harold's, or of each other.

To him came "Guenoch and Alutus Gurgan, foremost in all valor and fortitude, tall and large, and ready for work," and with them their three nephews, Godwin Gille, " so called because he was not inferior to that Godwin Guthlacsson who is preached much in the fables of the ancients," and "Douti and Outi the twins, alike in face and manners;" and Godric, the knight of Corby, nephew of the "Count of Warwick, and thus, probably, Hereward's first cousin or nephew;" and Tosti of Davenesse, his kinsman; and Azer Vass, whose father had possessed Lincoln Tower; and Leofwin Moue — that is, the scythe, so called, "because when he was mowing all alone, and twenty country folk set on him with pitchforks and javelins, he slew and wounded almost every one, sweeping his scythe among them as one that moweth;" and Wluncus the Blackface, so called because he once blackened his face with coal, and came unknown among the enemy, and slew ten of them with one lance; and "Turbertin a great-grandson (?) of Earl Edwin;" and Leofwin Prat (perhaps the ancestor of the ancient and honorable house of Pratt of Ryston), so called from his "Praet" or craft, "because he had often escaped cunningly when taken by the enemy, having more than once killed his keepers;" and the steward of Drayton; and Thurkill, and Utlamhe, i. e. the outlaw, Hereward's cook; and Oger, Hereward's kinsman; and " Winter and Liveret, two very famous ones;" and Ranald the Seneschal of Ramsey — "he was the standard-bearer;" and Wulfric the black and Wulfric the white; and Hugh the Norman, a priest; and Wulfard, his brother; and Tosti and Godwin of Rothwell; and Alsin, and Hurkill; and Hugh the Breton, who was Hereward's chaplain; and Whishaw, his brother, "a magnificent knight, which two came with him from Flanders;" — and so forth: — names merely, of whom naught is known, save, in a few cases, from Domesday Book, the manors which they held. But honor to their very names. Honor to the last heroes of the old English race.

Sons of the Wolf An investigation into the true Lineage of Hereward the Wake
...
It seems that the answer may lay with Brand the abbot of Peterborough, who, as stated earlier, was said to have been Hereward’s uncle. Peter Rex, in his research has uncovered the truth about Hereward’s lineage and it would appear that if the abbot was indeed his uncle then Hereward’s father must be one of Brand’s brothers, Asketil, Siward, Siric or Godric. Their father was a man called Toki of Lincoln whose own father was Auti the Moneyer of Lincoln. They were an established wealthy family of Danish descent which would make Hereward an Anglo-Danish hero like Harold Godwinson, but nonetheless and Englishman all the same. Rex, by careful elimination has pinpointed the brother that would have been his father: Asketil Tokison.

I have tried to be brief but concise in my explanation of why I believe Peter Rex’s theory. I have not covered every aspect of research that needed to be done to arrive at this conclusion. If you would like to learn more Rex’s book will give a more in-depth insight into the story.

Hereward
...
Two sources, one from Peterborough and another from Crowland, say that Abbot Brand of Peterborough was Hereward’s paternal uncle. We know exactly who this man was.
He was the son of a Lincolnshire thegn called Toki and had four brothers: Asketil, Siward, Siric and Godric. The family was Anglo-Danish.

Asketil was the eldest and he is the best candidate for Hereward’s father.

Asketil is recorded in The Domesday Book as King’s Thegn, one of those who served the King personally ‘with seat and special position in the King’s Hall’ and held land in Lincolnshire, Berkshire, Northamptonshire and Hertfordshire. He was almost as rich as an earl. His main dwelling was a great estate at Ware.

Hereward, as the son of a King’s Thegn was certainly, as Geoffrey Gaimar claimed, ‘one of the best men in the land’.

Code: W001813 Artist: Celtic art
Title: Detail of the Gundestrup cauldron. Scene of human sacrifice while armed men make ready for war. The ritual sacrifice is presumably associated with the God Teutatis. Generally thought to be of Celtic origin brought to Denmark as plunder.
Genre: Minor arts Period/Style: Celtic Location: Nationalmuseet Copenhagen

[ Old Norse Phonetics & Elder Futhark Runic Writing ]
* Asketill is pronounced in phonetics as OW-KS-EH-T-ILL [Elder Futhark runic],
meaning "divine title given to the tribe's chieftain-godi, practitioner of the holy cauldron at sacrifices to the gods".
The capital "A" in Asketill is an Old Norse rune drawn as a capital "A" with a distinct French "accent aigue" above it ("A" acute in English).

In the Norse Elder Futhark, the acute "A" symbol of the surname Asketill is represented by a symbolic diagonal "F" rune called the Ansuz, meaning "transformer of spiritual power". Ansuz is associated with ancestor immortality, inspiration, magic, poetry, prophecy, writing, spoken word knowledge, creative expression, and compassion. The Elder Futhark are associated with the Germanic pagans, the Aesir cult.

Notice the association ThorKetel found earlier to Asketil (Hereward's father) are we talking about the same guy?:

Aschil, the abbreviation of Asketil, appears in Lincolnshire Domesday Book

The earliest recorded local landowner is Thorketel (“Turchetil” in Domesday book), a Saxon Thane known to have lands as far apart as Lincolnshire and Middlesex.

Thorketel (or Turchetel) ousted from his seat by William Hermer de Ferrers, a loyal Norman freeman given the seat by William the Conqueror some time before 1085, possibly directly following Hereward the Wake’s failed resistance in 1071 or the Earl’s Revolt in 1075.

Asketil is recorded in The Domesday Book as King’s Thegn, one of those who served the King personally ‘with seat and special position in the King’s Hall’ and held land in Lincolnshire, Berkshire, Northamptonshire and Hertfordshire. He was almost as rich as an earl. His main dwelling was a great estate at Ware.

Hereward the Wake - The Outlaw -