The 12th Century and Belchamp Walter

Evidence of the power of local families can be found at Belchamp Walter church. This includes the construction of the church, the wall paintings and that there is a significant tomb to the de Botetourts that once graced the Nave of the church.

While there is little left in the church to support the influence of these families there are some remaining signs that there were some powerful influences. The ownership of the land is very much a mystery although it was intially thought that the de Vere family were dominant. It is hard to ignore the close proximity of the Norman castle at Castle Hedingham, the seat of the de Veres, but there are additional clues to influence of other families that were intially associated with Conquest. There a number of families in addtion to the de Veres, including de Mandeville and de Beauchamp.

The de Beauchamp - de Mandeville - de Vere connection

I have pages on these individual families and have reported what I have found on how they have been depicted in other histories. So far there seems to be no concise explanation of their relative importance for the region and also how the families relate to the developent of the ruling classes of the region.

The activities leading up to Magna Carta are not really described in any of the histories of the region that I have read so far. However, I guess that this to be expected as the background to what was going on in the country is just that.

Background to the build-up to Magna Carta