Herstmonceaux Sussex United Kingdom
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The first written evidence of the existence of the Herst settlement appears in William the Conqueror's Domesday Book, which reports that one of William's closest supporters granted tenancy of the manor at Herst to a man named ‘Wilbert'.
By the end of the twelfth century, the family at the manor house at Herst had considerable status.
Written accounts mention a lady called Idonea de Herst, who married a Norman nobleman named Ingelram de Monceux.
Around this time, the manor began to be called the “Herst of the Monceux”, a name that eventually became Herstmonceux.
A descendant of the Monceux family, Roger Fiennes, is ultimately responsible for the construction of Herstmonceux Castle in the County of Sussex.
Sir Roger, appointed Treasurer of the Household of Henry VI of England, needs a house fitting a man of his position, so construction begins in 1441 of the castle on the site of the old manor house.
It is this position as treasurer that enables him to afford the thirty eight hundred pound construction of the original castle.
The result will be not a defensive structure, but a palatial residence in a self-consciously archaizing castle style.