William de Lovetot, Lord of

Hallamshire Hallamshire (or Hallam) is the historical name for an area of South Yorkshire, England, approximating to the current City of Sheffield local government area. The origin of the name is uncertain. The English Place-Name Society describe "Hall ...

, possibly descended from the Norman Baron Ricardus Surdus,* (

wikisource Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually rep ...

) was an

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

from

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...

, often credited as the founder of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is unknown when de Lovetot acquired an interest in the manor of Hallamshire, but by the early twelfth century (in the reign of

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...

) he was in possession of Hallam,

Attercliffe Attercliffe is an industrial suburb of northeast Sheffield, England on the south bank of the River Don. The suburb falls in the Darnall ward of Sheffield City Council. History The name Attercliffe can be traced back as far as an entry in t ...

, Sheffield, Grimesthorpe,

Greasbrough Greasbrough is a small suburb in Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England. The suburb falls in the Greasbrough Ward of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. Greasbrough had its own local council, Greasbrough UDC (Urban District Council), until ...

and

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from the nor ...

. He also had interests in Handsworth,

Treeton Treeton is a village and civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is located about south of the town of Rotherham and east of Sheffield City Centre. History There is evidence of Mesolithic and N ...

, and Whiston . He founded a priory at Worksop c.1103, St. Mary's Church at Handsworth, and may have founded the parish church in Sheffield at around this time. Lovetot is credited with the building of a

motte and bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortification ...

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

in Sheffield. Along with the castle, a hospital was established at what is still called "Spital Hill", a mill was built beside the River Don, and a bridge called

Lady's Bridge Lady's Bridge is the oldest bridge across the River Don in the City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the central section of the city, linking the Wicker to the north with Waingate to the south. History The first bridge The original woo ...

was constructed where there had previously only been a

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

across the river. Little is known of Sheffield prior to Lovetot, but these developments established Sheffield as the main town in the Hallamshire area. William had four sons, with his wife Emma; Richard, Nigel,Houses of Austin canons - The priory of Worksop , British History Online
/ref> Henry and Hugh. Following the death of William de Lovetot the manor of Hallamshire passed to his elder son, Richard de Lovetot, and then to Richard's son, William de Lovetot, before being passed to

Gerard de Furnival Gerard de Furnival (c.1175–1219) was a Norman knight and Lord of Hallamshire (now part of Sheffield, England) and Worksop. De Furnival's father was also called Gerard de Furnival, and had fought with Richard I at the Siege of Acre. De Furniv ...

by his marriage to Maud de Lovetot in about 1204.

References

*Brown, Cornelius (1896) ''A History of Nottinghamshire''. Transcription at Nicholson, AP:
Nottinghamshire History
' (Accessed 18 December 2005). *Vickers, J. Edward MBE (1999). ''Old Sheffield Town. An Historical Miscellany'' (2nd ed.). Sheffield: The Hallamshire Press Limited. . *White, Robert (1875) ''Worksop, The Dukery, and Sherwood Forest''. Transcription at Nicholson, AP:

' (Accessed 18 December 2005). Anglo-Normans People from Huntingdonshire People from Sheffield {{UK-noble-stub

See also

References