Hello again. After 3 years, it's time to go back to resume my genealogy journey with my ancestors. This time my trip is going to start out in the West Midlands of England, and work it's way North to Chester. This is the land of the English Marcher Lords. What was a Marcher Lord you may ask? After William the Bastard defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, he needed to divy up the lands of the previous Anglo-Saxon nobility, to prevent any uprisings or attempts to take back what he had fought for. Securing his Kingdom became the most important action to take to safeguard his conquests. Not only were previous Anglo-Saxon nobles a threat, so were the Scots and the Welsh. Castles needed to be constructed to support his own Norman Noble Lords, to protect his possessions. This was the beginning of the medieval fuedal system. The Marcher Lords were given the lands bordering Wales, also called the Welsh Marches. From Bristol to Liverpool, many Motte and Bailey Castles we...

Last official day in England, and the weather was back to it’s old tricks. Thunder, Lightning, and heavy rain. I did get to see Guildford Castle. The gardens around it were pretty amazing, but they should have been, with all the rain that this place has received in the month of July. Most news channels are reporting that July had 300% more rain than average, and it did affect my trip a little bit, but that’s the breaks. I did give up high 90’s in Alabama for low 60’s in England for nearly a month, so that’s good, right? Guildford castle isn’t one of the most well known castles in Surrey England, but it was still nice. It was started by William the Conqueror right after he became King, and was known as a hunting lodge for a while. It was never attacked, and King Henry II did stay in it, but around the 14 th Century, it was turned into a prison. After the castle, I did a little walking down the streets to get some exercise (in the rain), and snapped a few pictures. England has been a fu...

I had another great weather day, and got a lot in as I started making my way back to London for my flight back to the States on Sunday. The first stop was Glastonbury Abbey. Glastonbury Abbey was a magnificent structure back before Henry the VIII destroyed it. The Dissolution of the monasteries really took out a lot of wonderful cathedrals and abbeys, just as the English Civil War and Oliver Cromwell took out many beautiful castles. Glastonbury abbey was founded sometime in the 7 th Century by the Saxon Kings. It is also the burial place of King Arthur and Guinivere. I have two Anglo-Saxon King ancestors that were buried here as well, Edgar the Peaceful King of Wessex, and Edmund Ironside, King of England. Another ancestor, Alice Bassett, was buried in Glastonbury, very possibly in the local parish church, but it wasn’t open when I snapped a few pictures of it, so I may never know. After the visit to the Abbey, I sought out St. Mary Magdalene’s Church in Chewton Mendip. This ancient c...