xc Journal of Proceedings.
whose descendants they remained until about the 14th century. This
Geoffrey seems to have been a great favourite of the Conqueror, for we
learn that he gave him " 118 lordships, 48 of which were in Essex alone,"
from which he selected Waledon (as it was then called) for his residence,
and that most probably on account of its delightful surroundings, and
its commanding position. Standing as it does on a peculiar neck of land,
jutting out into a semi-circular valley, it would in those times of rude
warfare be well fitted as a position of defence.
Geoffrey de Mandeville was the first Norman possessor of this castle ;
he was also the founder of a priory at Hurley in Berkshire. He had a son,
William, who inherited his estates, &c, to whom was given by the King
the dignity of Keeper of the Tower of London. He married Margaret,
only daughter of Eudo Dapifer, Steward of Normandy (and it is a
remarkable fact that the seal of this office was some few years ago found
in a little village shop not far from here, being used as a two-pound
weight, and is now deposited in the Saffron Walden Museum). He had
a son, Geoffrey, who also held under the King (Stephen) the same
office that his father had filled, besides which he was raised to the
dignity of Earl of Essex ; but the Empress Matilda won him over to her
cause, the result of which was ruin and misery to himself. Acting thus
traitorously to his king he was out-lawed and excommunicated. Although
we have no historical account of the fact, it is probable that this period
saw the commencement of the ruin of the castle. He being in open
rebellion and becoming desperate, we are informed he plundered the
Abbey of Ramsey in the county of Huntingdon: ultimately, in 1143, he
was apprehended at St.. Albans, and to obtain his liberty he was obliged
to surrender to the king the Tower of London, his castles of Walden and
elsewhere. After he had thus obtained his liberty he besieged the king's
castle at Barwell, in Cambridgeshire, and in this last affair he received
a wound in his head from an arrow which was the cause of his death on
the 14th September, 1144, even while the sentence of excommunication
was still hanging over him. So fearful in those days was this sentence,
that Camden says, quoting from the registry book of Walden, " when he
was lying dead there came by certain Knights Templars, who laid upon
him the habit of their religious profession, figured with a red cross, and
taking him up with them to London whence they were journeying,
enclosed him in a leaded coffin and hung him upon a tree in an orchard
by the old Temple, for in a reverend awe of the church they durst not
bury him because he died excommunicated." After a time this sentence
was revoked and his body was removed and privately buried, it is believed
in the Priory founded by him at Audley End in 1186, of which institution
scarcely any external evidence now exists to indicate the spot of its site,
or to mark the earthly resting-place for the bones of the notable men
of that period ; but it is supposed it may have been upon the spot which
is occupied by the old buildings now converted into stables for the
use of Lord Braybrook at. Audley End. He married Rohaise, daughter
of Alberic de Vere, Chief Justice of England, and sister to Alberic,
the first Earl of Oxford, founder of many religious institutions, among
which was the Nunnery at Ickleton, in Cambridgeshire, from whence
came two of the stone coffins which are now placed in this old ruin ; the
others were from Berden Priory farm and Wimbish, Essex.
Mr. Maynard then traced the descent of the Manor, from its restora-
tion to the Mandeville family by Henry II., until it again became
Crown property by the marriage of Henry IV. with Mary, daughter and
heiress of Humfrey de Bohun, Earl of Essex. The manor continued in
the hands of the Crown until it was granted by Henry VIII, to Thomas,
Lord Audley, who died 8th May, 1544 ; from Lord Audley the estates
descended to the Howards, Earls of Suffolk, and from them to the