27 May 2026 Haughmond Abbey and Stafford Castle

 It was a beautiful day today in Sunny Ole England. Temps were in the mid 70's, and the wind kept things nice. I had planned on visiting Tutbury Castle today, but after checking their website, I couldn't tell if they were closed or not, so I erred on the side of caution, and just hit and abbey and a castle.

Haughmond Abbey is very close to where the Battle of Shrewsbury took place in 1403, and the Abbot from here and Shrewsbury Abbey had been sent to Hotspur Henry with terms of surrender prior to the Battle taking place. Unfortunately, Henry Percy rejected the terms, and was killed at the battle. 

The Abbey was pretty much self sufficient back in the day. They grew there own food, had fish ponds to supply protein, grew their own crops, and for what they couldn't produce, they would make the trek to Shrewsbury to get it. Shrewsbury Abbey was only 5 miles away, so they could always help if it was needed. Shrewsbury was a Benedictine Order Abbey, while Haughmond was an Augustinian Order, which explains why they had two Abbeys in such close proximity to each other.

Haughmond Abbey was closely associated with the Earls of Arundel, the FitzAlan family, who were very wealthy and well connected. The 4 ancestors that I have who were buried here were couples. John FitzAlan III and his wife, Isabel Mortimer, were buried here in 1272 and 1292 respectively, while Richard FitzAlan, 1st Earl of Arundel, and his wife, Countess Alice de Saluzzo, were buried in 1302 and 1292. During excavations that took place, several stone sarcophagi were found, and one does appear to be one of the Arundel men.

As with most Priories, Monasteries, and Abbeys, this one was also a victim to Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, and wasn't much of an abbey after the 16th Century.

Next, I went to the Borough of Staffordshire to check out Stafford Castle. Another of King William I supporters at the battle of Hastings was Robert de Tosny, whose family were hereditary Standard Bearers for the Dukes of Normandy. King William ordered a castle to be built at Stafford, and again, this Motte and Bailey castle was made of wood. Eventually it burnt down, and a new one began. 

Robert de Tosny went by two names. His second name was Robert de Stafford. What most people didn't realize, was when William I became King of England, he, his nobles, knights, and people all spoke French. They came from the Normandy region of France, so now all of these Anglo-Saxon locals who speak English, had to deal with a bilingual situation. Church services and burials were conducted in Latin and French, and this continued for about a Hundred years. Of those first Norman Kings, many spent most of there time in their Normandy estates across the English Channel, and many were buried there when they died (King Henry II and his son, King Richard I the Lionheart are a few). 

It wasn't until the mid 1300's when Ralph Stafford commissioned a stone mason by the name of John of Bicester to construct a stone keep on top of the pre-existing motte. Ralph was the 2nd Baron Stafford, but had a very close relationship with Edward III, and was granted the title of 1st Earl Stafford in 1350. 

Other ancestors associated with Stafford Castle are most of the Stafford family in my family tree, plus Katherine de Hastang, died in 1336 (Ralph Stafford's first wife). Petronell de Ferrers, wife of Hervey de Stafford (1178-1237), died there in 1237. 

Here's a few more pictures of the castle in its current state.