TO HOLD BY THE SWORD

THE 1ST NORMAN EARL OF CHESTER - WALTER DE GERBOD

BY PHILLIP E JONES

Although generally acknowledged as the first Norman Earl of Chester to be appointed by William I following his victory over the Anglo Saxon king Harold, Walter has never received widespread recognition as the predecessor of the much better known Hugh D’Avranches. This historical oversight might in part be due to the fact that Gerbod was not regarded as the Earl of Chester in a civilian sense, but was in fact a military leader who had been in the military vanguard which had first pacified the region, rather than a later civil administrator.

Most records suggest that Walter had been actively involved in the subjugation of England from the time of William’s victory at Hastings, but having served the new king for a period of some four years, was anxious to return home to his family estates in Flanders. As Chester was the final point of resistance to Norman rule in England, it is entirely likely that Gerbod reluctantly agreed to participate in the final military campaign which was waged against the rebellious north western bases of the remaining Anglo Saxon forces.

However, for a war weary knight who had spent four years battling against the intractable Anglo Saxons, the prospect of administering a remote and rebellious region must have been highly unappealing. Although he was known to have been granted Chester by William following the city’s capitulation, there are suggestions that an already tired and homesick Gerbod found his willingness to serve severely undermined by the regular attacks and ambushes which were launched against him and his forces by the troublesome Welsh and those Anglo Saxon rebels who had managed to escape across the border, but continued to raid in and around Chester.

Whatever his reasons, sometime between the fall of the city in 1070 and the later arrival of his successor Hugh D’Avranches in 1071, Gerbod was reported to have asked permission of William to leave his post and return home to Flanders. It has been recorded that around these particular dates there was general unrest in the Cheshire area and Gerbod’s father, Count Baldwin, was known to have died in the same period, thereby adding to his desire to be released from his post.

Having vacated his post at Chester, Walter was reported to have returned to his estates in Flanders, only to be captured by his enemies and held prisoner for a period. Other sources however, have suggested that Gerbod may well have been a casualty at the Battle of Cassell which took place in February 1071 and that this event alone ended his brief Earldom at Chester.   

According to the historian Orderic Vitalis King William gave Gerbod the Fleming Chester and its county, but later at the request of those to whom he had entrusted his hereditary honour he returned to Flanders, where was captured by his enemies and imprisoned for a long time. Meanwhile the king gave the earldom of Chester to Hugh of Avranches

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