KNOCKIN VILLAGE

From 1155 A.D.

Fitz Alan Estate and red sandstone blocks

The North edge of Shropshire is the small old village of Knockin (“Cnukyn“), the name refers to a small hillock or knoll, next to which, was built a lowland Castle belonging to the le Strange Barony.

HAMON LE STRANGE

The year 1155, the winds of change swept across the borderlands of Shropshire and Wales. England was emerging from decades of unrest, and a young king—only twenty-one years old—was determined to reclaim his kingdom from the chaos left behind by civil war.

That king was Henry II.

Among the men he trusted stood a Breton knight named Hamon le Strange, the second son of Roland and Matilda le Strange of Hunstanton. Hamon was not yet one of the great magnates of the realm, but he belonged to a family whose loyalty had survived the dangerous reign of King Stephen — nearly twenty years of uncertainty, shifting allegiances, and broken authority.

Before Henry II had even claimed the throne, while still Prince Henry Plantagenet, he had already begun rewarding the men who remained faithful to his cause. Hamon le Strange was one of them.

His first known reward came before 1154: lands at Wellington in Shropshire worth the considerable sum of seven pounds a year — a valuable estate in an age when wealth was measured in fields, mills, livestock, and armed men. Later, this holding was exchanged for the smaller but strategically important stronghold of Cheswardine worth £4.

But it was another grant, given in 1155, that would shape the future of the le Strange family for centuries.

Henry entrusted Hamon with the manor of Osbaston, later known as Knockin.

At first glance it may have seemed little more than a farming settlement scattered across the border countryside. Yet this was no ordinary village. The lands lay deep within the volatile frontier known as the Marches, where Norman lords ruled with powers almost equal to kings. Whoever controlled these lands controlled roads, trade, military movement, and the uneasy boundary between England and Wales.

Nearly a century had passed since the Norman Conquest, and long before Hamon arrived, the land had already been worked by an older northern family called the Haughtons. Their presence lingered in the fields and farmsteads Hamon inherited. But now a new order was taking shape.

The estate itself was held under the mighty William FitzAlan, Sheriff of Shropshire and head of one of the most powerful Marcher dynasties. The fitz Alans and the le Stranges were already close allies — perhaps even kin. Both families traced their origins to the same Breton region around Dol-de-Bretagne in France. Before the conquest of England, the Fitz Alan ancestor, Alan fitz Flaald, had earned renown as a specialist in frontier warfare and border defence.

Now, decades later, those same skills were needed in the turbulent Welsh borderlands.

So Hamon le Strange took possession of Osbaston under the authority of the fitz Alans, establishing the le Strange foothold in Knockin. It was a dangerous land, a frontier of shifting loyalties, raids, and military tension. Yet it was also a land of opportunity.

From this modest manor would rise one of the most important Marcher lordships in the region.

In time, Osbaston would become Knockin Castle — caput of the le Strange barony, guardian of the border, and a stronghold whose story would echo through rebellion, war, and centuries of history.

Four years after Hamon le Strange first took possession of Osbaston, a shadow seems to have fallen over the young lord’s household.

By the autumn of 1159, the records begin to hint that something was wrong.

Hamon himself appears less frequently, while his elder brother, John le Strange I, increasingly stepped forward to witness charters and oversee matters connected to the family estates. In an age when written records were sparse, such quiet changes often spoke volumes. Illness could descend quickly in the twelfth century, and even a lord entrusted with frontier lands by the King himself was never far from mortality.

Within six months, Hamon le Strange was dead.

His passing came at a moment of profound upheaval across Shropshire and the Welsh Marches. The year 1160 saw the deaths of several towering figures who had shaped the border country for decades. Hamon’s powerful overlord, William FitzAlan, died that same year, while a few miles across the border the Welsh ruler Madog ap Maredudd (Meredith) also passed from the scene, and had raised a stone Castle in the local town. Old powers were fading almost simultaneously, and the political balance of the Marches was shifting.

Hamon had likely expected his natural heir, and eldest brother, John le Strange, to inherit all his lands, including Osbaston. That would have been the ordinary course of succession. Yet what happened next reveals how carefully the le Strange family managed their growing power on the frontier.

John inherited the lordship of Cheswardine Castle and retained his own seat at Ness, only a few miles away. But Osbaston — the future Knockin — did not pass to him.

Instead, it went to the younger brother: Guy le Strange.

At first this might seem surprising. But in the dangerous politics of the Marches, it made perfect sense.

Guy had just succeeded William fitz Alan in one of the most important offices in the county: Sheriff of Shropshire, and Warden of Oswestry. The role carried military, judicial, and administrative authority across one of the most volatile regions in England. Giving Guy control of Osbaston placed the settlement directly in the hands of the King’s chief local officer — a practical and strategic decision at a time when the borderlands demanded constant vigilance.

So while John consolidated the family’s authority at Ness and Cheswardine, Guy established himself at Osbaston.

At this stage there may not yet have been a true castle there. The settlement was likely still a collection of farmsteads and manorial lands clustered along the frontier route. Yet its importance was growing rapidly. Positioned within the Marches, it sat in territory where Norman lords ruled with exceptional freedom and where military readiness was essential for survival.

The death of Hamon in 1160 also hints at a life cut unexpectedly short. His elder brother John remained active for another eighteen years, dying only in 1178 after what was probably a long career that stretched back before 1138. One can imagine the brothers as seasoned frontier knights, perhaps in their thirties or forties when Hamon died — men shaped by civil war, shifting loyalties, and the harsh realities of border life.

Their bond with the fitz Alan family was clearly far more than political convenience.

When William fitz Alan lay dying in 1160, both John and Guy le Strange were reportedly present at his bedside. Such an intimate detail speaks of a relationship built over decades — one forged in military service, landholding, and mutual dependence on the unstable Welsh frontier. The alliance between the two families was enduring, powerful, and possibly even bound by blood.

Indeed, centuries later, a Victorian grandson, Hamon le Strange, writing in his book, The le Strange Records 1916, would raise precisely that question: were the le Stranges and fitz Alans not merely allies, but kin?

If so, then the rise of Knockin was not simply the story of a manor changing hands. It was the story of a tightly connected frontier dynasty building its power generation by generation — through loyalty, military service, and careful control of the borderlands that separated England from Wales.

Guy le Strange of Knockin (Oswestry) 1160

When Guy’s brother Hamon died the farmland settlement of Osbaston had a practical use, and provided access along the dusty road track into the nearest market town of Oswestry and beyond to Scotland and Ireland.

Although

LOCAL TOWN, OSWESTRY

Although founded by someone else about 1086, Alan fitz Flaad had held nearby Castle of Oswestry, approx. 5.6 miles away. It was already an established Castle that was held by Alan’s son, William fitz Alan, when Guy le Strange came along. William had Reclaimed the castle for the English crown, and when william died, the King granted William’s job of Sheriff to Guy.

He suceeded William.

the village grew up around the Norman castle which has many historical references to the place tied to military activity.

Any rising towers of castle at Knockin would be able to guide the flow not only of water from it’s nearest spring 2 miles away, but also guard transport passing through England and Wales.

Guy le Strange (d.1179) as the local Warden of Oswestry (of the nearest Town) and Sheriff of Shropshire, had a power job as a powerful royal official appointed to manage the County on behalf of the King was crucial for maintaining law and order, collecting taxes, managing royal estates, and presiding over local courts.

Recently (within months) succeeded William fitz Alan I (d.1160) to the Office of County Sheriff his Lordship started. and the decision for his inheritance to include Knockin reflected the family’s influence and the flexibility of Crown-held tenures. Such estates could pass amicably between brothers in recognition of military service, political necessity, or marriage alliances. He passed away 19 years later after nearly 2 decades of Knockin Lordship.

During this time, 1160 - 1179, Knockin— grew markedly in prominence, however, there was a 5 year interval of authority as Sheriff between 1165-1170. It coincides with the re-marriage of William’s wife, Isabel de Say to Geoffrey de Vere. This marriage alliance brought with it some fitz Alan’s Estates. Although Osbaston was one, it was Guy’s inheritance, and perhaps during this interval his time was freed up to build a Castle there.

With an aspect of far reaching views into Wales, it was far from being isolated. The area of the Castle became known as Knockin, and the name, although still an area of Osbaston, mention of it fades out with Knockin Castle. It became part of a network of frontier Castles which were situated within ‘fire & smoke’ signalling distance of one another. These Castles were at the local town of Oswestry, Little Ness, & Shrawardine, linking communication between le Strange brothers and their Fitz Alan overlords.

Following Geoffrey’s death in 1170, Guy was reinstated as Sheriff and during his lordship of Osbaston, gave way to Knockin, and the Castle. He was perhaps now a Sheriff with a Castle, as the name Osbaston faded into the background when the Castle at Knockin took precedence. He is accepted as the founder of Knockin Castle.

Guy appears to have been married twice, with his 2nd wife being called Mary. It is accepted that his children were offspring from his 1st marriage, whose name we do not know.

Guy’s brothers had passed away, but he had 3 sons, family of his own, a brother and many nephews.

Here’s a rewritten version that places Guy le Strange at the centre of the story, making the case that he may well have founded the chapel of Knockin, while naturally incorporating William and the dating argument:

Did Guy le Strange Found the Chapel of Knockin?

The surviving charter by which Ralph le Strange granted the advowson of the chapel of Knockin to Haughmond Abbey may preserve an important clue about the origins of St Mary’s, Knockin itself. Although traditionally dated to c. 1190–1195, the evidence suggests that both the chapel and Ralph’s grant may belong to an earlier phase of Le Strange lordship—one that begins not with Ralph, but with his father, Guy le Strange.

Guy stands at the heart of the family’s rise at Knockin. Following the consolidation of royal authority under Henry II, Guy received the manor of Alveley around 1155, and by the middle decades of the twelfth century the Le Stranges had firmly established themselves at Knockin Castle, where they emerged as one of the most important marcher families on the Welsh border. For a lord securing a new seat of power, the establishment of a chapel was both practical and expected. A castle and manor required spiritual provision for the lord’s household, retainers, and tenants, while the founding of a chapel also reinforced status, authority, and dynastic permanence.

This possibility becomes especially significant when Ralph’s charter is examined closely. Ralph did not claim to found a chapel at Knockin; rather, he granted:

ius patronatus capelle de Knokin
“the right of patronage of the chapel of Knockin.”

In medieval terms, this meant the advowson—the hereditary right to appoint the priest when the benefice fell vacant. Such a right normally belonged to the founder of a church or chapel and passed with lordship from one generation to the next. Ralph’s charter therefore strongly implies that the chapel already existed and that he had inherited, rather than created, its patronage.

If the chapel predated Ralph, Guy le Strange emerges as the most plausible founder. Having established the family’s position at Knockin during the 1150s–1170s, Guy was precisely the sort of marcher lord who would have endowed a manorial chapel. The surviving Norman fabric of St Mary’s, Knockin, usually assigned to the later twelfth century, sits comfortably within this context. Rather than marking the church’s first appearance, the surviving architecture may represent the rebuilding or enlargement of an earlier chapel established during Guy’s lifetime.

The dating of Ralph’s grant may also support this interpretation. Earlier historians placed the charter close to Ralph’s death in 1195–96, largely because William le Strange, one of the witnesses, was thought too young to have appeared before around 1190. Yet this William was no obscure younger relative. He was William le Strange, brother of John le Strange II and cousin of Ralph, a cleric whose career is better documented than once assumed. In 1221, William was recorded as holding the church of Alveley, having been presented to it by Henry II before the king’s death in 1189, meaning William must already have attained clerical maturity by that time. More importantly, he appears as “Master William le Strange” witnessing a charter of his brother John around 1178, strongly suggesting he was already an established cleric by the late 1170s.

This evidence undermines the argument that Ralph’s charter must date from the 1190s. William could easily have witnessed the document much earlier, making an earlier date entirely plausible.

Indeed, the wording of Ralph’s grant may point toward a more immediate explanation. Ralph gives the chapel to Haughmond:

pro animabus patris mei et antecessorum meorum
“for the souls of my father and my ancestors.”

The emphasis on “the soul of my father” is striking. In twelfth-century aristocratic society, one of the most common moments for making religious gifts was immediately following the death of a parent, particularly a father. Heirs frequently granted churches, lands, or advowsons to monasteries to secure perpetual prayers for the deceased at the moment of succession.

If Guy le Strange died around 1179, then Ralph’s charter begins to make particular sense. Rather than a late act of piety made near Ralph’s own death, the donation may instead represent a memorial gift made shortly after Guy’s passing, when Ralph inherited both lordship and the patronage of Knockin chapel. In that case, a date of approximately 1179–1183 seems considerably more persuasive than the conventional 1190–1195.

Such a reconstruction cannot be proven with certainty, but it offers an appealing and historically coherent possibility: that Guy le Strange founded the original chapel of Knockin during the formative years of Le Strange lordship, and that Ralph later entrusted its patronage to Haughmond Abbey in memory of his father and for the salvation of the family line.

RALPH LE STRANGE 1179-c.1195

Ralph le Strange succeeded his Father, Guy le Strange in 1179. Between 1190-1195 Ralph granted the advowson of Knockin Chapel to the Clergy of Haughmond Abbey in Shrewsbury, in the presence of Jona the Chaplain of Knockin Chapel, and cousins John II, William??, and Hamon le Strange.

In a Charter (c. 1186-97) witnessed by the fitz Warin brothers of Whittington Castle nearby, a Bishop (Bishop Reiner of St Asaph) confirmed an agreement for the Parson of Knockin to have the income from all the tithes of Knockin and of the North Slope where there was a fish pond, and all other income, except burial fees and half the mortuary dues. In return he is to pay 1s to their ‘Mother’ Church of Kinnerley every year on St Bridget's day.

Witnesses: Prior of Wombridge and Runton, Abraham presbitero, Fulk Fitz Warin (1155-Sept 1198) and Richard Fitz Warin (1159-1203+) his brother, Haughmond, No.669.

C.1190-95 Ralph Lestrange (Fitz Guy, 1146-Jun 95) grants advowson of Knockin chapel, test William Fitz Alan (1175-1210), John Lestrange (1177-1233/4), William Lestrange (1170-1227, 1179-1203+), Jona the Chaplain, Hamo Lestrange (1161-1221), Roger Badger (Begeshover), Robert Estley, Roger Breton, Haughmond No.666.

Knockin Castle stood as the principal Seat of the elder branch of the le Strange family of Hunstanton. Throughout the Middle Ages from 1155 into the 15th Century it was a place deeply woven into the history of the Welsh Marches and feudal Lordships, and this is the story of the rise of one of Shropshire’s most influential medieval Families.

THE LE STRANGE LEGEND

Leland's 'Collectanea,' published in 1612, while Leland's account is derived from an English version of the French romance of Fulk fitz Warin

13th CENTURY LEGEND

A 13th-century legend written in ….language tells of 10 sons of the Duke of Brittany competing in a grand jousting tournament at Peveril Castle in Derbyshire. The event was hosted by William Peverel of Whittington, who offered a remarkable prize: the hand of his heiress niece, Melette—and her dowry of Whittington Castle and its lands in Oswestry, Shropshire.

Against all expectation, it was the youngest brother, Guarin de Metz, who emerged victorious, winning both Melette and her inheritance.

After their wedding, his nine elder brothers returned to Brittany, but Guarin remained in England. Through his own skill and ambition, he went on to acquire further lands, earning the name “Guy le Strange.”

15th/16th century the fitz alans owned Whittington castle.

Guarin de Metz is probably a legendary version of Guy le Strange—not a real separate person.

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### Why historians link them

1. The name connection

Guarin / Warin* → common Norman name

le Strange* → means “the foreigner”

👉 A man arriving from overseas could easily be remembered as both

2. The “outsider who rises” theme

* Legend: Guarin arrives from Brittany and wins land

Reality: Guy le Strange appears as a *newcomer rising through royal service**

👉 The story may preserve a distorted memory of a foreign-origin figure gaining power

3. Medieval storytelling habits

Families often *rewrote their origins** to sound more heroic

A *tournament victory and noble marriage** is far more glamorous than:

* royal appointment

* administrative service

* political manoeuvring

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### What’s probably happened

The real story:

Guy le Strange gains influence through *service to the king**

Receives land (like Knockin) through *royal favour**

The legend transforms this into:

A dramatic *tournament**

A *marriage to an heiress**

A noble continental origin (*“de Metz” / Brittany**)

---

### The likely truth

There may have been:

A *foreign (Norman/French) ancestor**

Or simply a *man seen as “the stranger” locally**

But over time, this was romanticised into Guarin de Metz, a heroic founder figure.

---

### In simple terms

Guy le Strange = real historical official

Guarin de Metz = his legend, dressed up as a chivalric hero

RALPH LE STRANGE

Church with Roman Font

›THE MONUMENT

e monument has been described both as a timber and a masonry defence, occupying a low-lying position. The surviving monument measures approximately 60m by 70m at its base, and 46m by 54m across the top, rising to a decomposed height of around 4m. The main road, the former A5, built by Thomas Telford in the 19th Century, hugs the Castle’s southern side, while the leat of the Weir Brook skims the west side of the Castle mound. The leat is a more recent engineered irrigation system connecting to a water mill (which has not been located). Guy le Strange granted the use of the mill to Haughmond Abbey, “the mill was situated on Morton brook'“ (see le Strange records), and that some remains of it can still be traced where the bridge now stands”.

Archaeological surveys of the area note that the integrity of original site and it’s surrounding moat has been disturbed. The castle layout had likely changed over centuries of inhabitation by the family, with upgrades, alterations, and changes keeping up with the times, and defences required.

Over time, the site has suffered repeated disturbance: invasive landscaping took place within the East bailey during the construction of the Rectory in 1901, and as a result it is only the mound and church that remain protected monuments today.The mound and church are divided by the leat in what looks like the West Bailey. The Church of St. Mary was clearly a community church/chapel, which the monks of Haughmond Abby controlled as a subordinate of Kinnerley. The Priests door on the south wall of the Chancel is now blocked up inside, however, the external door is visible and is likely to have been positioned to face a route between castle and church for the le Strange lord or chaplain associated with the castle. A round-headed Romanesque (Norman) arch built in red sandstone with dressed ‘voussoirs’ dates it to the 12th century.

In marcher contexts, church–castle relationships were often very direct

Behind the church, the castle inner ward monument appears to rise only with non-native trees. Curiously, the rubble-like red sandstone ramparts are visible in winter (2024) when the foliage thins out.

The Church of St Mary appears almost to stand guard over the castle, displaying community purpose of it’s own. From the outer cemetary one can imagine an outer bailey, especially with the raised encirclements. At some point in the evolution of the Family castle, the village was enclosed where at a raised outline in a outside field can be detected near the houses.

while inside the castle itself, the le Strange Family likely had their own private chapel.

A walk past Knockin Castle now and analyise it’s LiDAR map, can leave one confused on it’s layout. With several centuries of alterations, renovations, and probable improvements, Knockin Castle leaves one with questions relating beyond their time into the early 20th Century when manual disruption to the landscape occurred in creation of the current onsite Rectory inside one of the outer castle Baileys.

T

The Church of St Mary was founded by 1190-1195, and referred to as the ‘new’ church a few years later, by John le Strange II, in c.1198-1200. It seems that had any renovations taken place that the The chapel displays Norman Romanesque architecture, and its dedication to St Mary matches his father’s home church at Old Hunstanton. Perhaps this was no coincidence, but a statement of family identity and continuity, or just a common trait among Christian Catholics.

he family’s religious patronage extended further. Haughmond Abbey ensured that both churches, at Hunstanton and Knockin, were staffed and maintained in return for the grants of farmland the family bestowed upon its monks and nuns. Today, Knockin Church is Grade II* listed, marking it as significantly more important than the average Grade II building.

The succession of Knockin was settled relatively early in its history. John le Strange II of Ness and Cheswardine, following his father’s path, also became Sheriff of Shropshire. In 1198, he succeeded his three co-heiress first cousins, after the inheritance of Knockin had temporarily diverted following Ralph’s death in 1195. Thus, the future of Knockin was resolved amicably within the family, preserving the estate in le Strange hands.

A defining moment came on 16 March 1218, when, at about 40 years of age, John le Strange II received a licence to fortify the manor of Knockin. This formal act legitimised the powerful le Strange seat of Knockin Castle. One cannot help but wonder whether his cousin Ralph of Knockin, who had died 23 years earlier and with whom John had shared a close relationship, would have approved. It seems likely that he would.

n 1229, John le Strange II, who inherited the Hunstanton estate under the Earls of Arundel. He had also held Knockin Castle in Shropshire for 3 decades under the Fitz Alans. Probably killed at Shrewsbury when posted as Sheriff - Llewellyn ransacked the town, set alight. 5 months after, June 21, 1234 Peace treaty signed by Henry III & Welsh Prince. Was meant to last for two years, but was extended annually

From then on, the legacy of Knockin Castle and its Chapel of St Mary passed through many generations of the family. The castle remained a symbol of le Strange authority in the Marches until the 1540s, when John Leland described it as “ruinous.” How exactly Knockin fell into ruin remains unknown.

By that time, the world around it had changed dramatically. Haughmond Abbey, where members of the family were likely buried, had itself been demolished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII. Sir Thomas le Strange of Hunstanton, then a courtier and Esquire of the King, together with his younger Stanley cousin, the 11th Lord Strange of Knockin, lived through those upheavals. They would have witnessed not only the destruction of the abbey, but very likely the loss of treasured family monuments and tombs.

Yet the le Stranges remained in royal favour. Ralph le Strange, having founded Knockin Church, had also founded the Hospital of the Holy Trinity at Bridgnorth, near the River Severn bridge. The hospital offered relief to pedestrian travellers who could not afford to journey on horseback, providing shelter and assistance to those most in need. Each year, on the anniversary of its foundation, the abbot distributed 80 pence among the poor as an act of charity. Records from 1535 confirm that these annual commemorations had already been observed for over three centuries, recognised during the reign of Henry VIII. Even amid the violence and destruction of the Tudor age, the family’s legacy endured.

Knockin itself had long represented more than a manor or a castle. In 1381 Lord Roger le Strange of Knockin, Steward to Richard, Earl of Arundel died, leaving manors ie. Ness and Ellesmere, and the Castle of Knockin and it’s Demesne (Estate) to his son. It was the furthest outpost in the Marches, and it was the Family’s role in defending and defining the borders between England and Wales. The Castle monument is a reminder of the le Stranges’ determination to hold the boundary with their Motto: Mihi Parta Tuerri (I will defend what is mine), and of the remarkable medieval legacy they left behind, with the boundary being invariably unchanged.

The Barony merged with the Stanley, Earls of Derby and the Family never died out.

It has been said that the le Stranges were the greatest family ‘never’ to have received an Earldom! However, the two Branches of Hunstanton & Knockin had reached Baronial Status, when a Knockin heiress married into an Earldom—the Earls of Derby.