Caversham claims among its famous former residents no less than the man Thomas Asbridge describes as ‘the greatest knight who ever lived’ and the power behind five English thrones. Who was William Marshal, why is he important in English history and where was his Caversham home?
William Marshal served under five Plantagenet monarchs, stretching from Henry II to Henry III. Throughout this tumultuous dynasty Marshal remained steadfastly loyal, rising to become Regent when the nine year old Henry III succeeded King John. It was while acting as Regent that Marshal coordinated the decisive victories for forces loyal to Henry at Lincoln and Sandwich during the First Barons’ War. It was also Marshal’s shrewd reissuing of Magna Carta, stripped of its most controversial clauses, which helped heal the divide in the country and restore peace. This act ensured the survival not just of Henry but of Magna Carta itself, which would otherwise have been footnoted as a failed peace treaty.
William Marshal came to own property in Caversham when Richard I gifted him a small fortified manor there consisting of nine square kilometres. Caversham at this time was home to a very important shrine to St Mary. In 1106 when Duke Robert of Normandy returned from the First Crusade he presented a relic of Christ’s Passion to the Shrine. In 1162 the care of the shrine was entrusted to the Augustinian Canons of Notley Abbey. Someone from the Abbey was always resident at Caversham as the Warden of the Shrine.
So, where was the great man’s home in Caversham? Investigating links William Marshal had with Caversham Court, at the bottom of the busy A4074, and Caversham Park, the two most likely sites, is challenging as there is little or no archaeological evidence to go on. Some place his home at the site of the later Caversham Park House but others suggests a location at Dean’s Farm. Gatehouse, an online comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of medieval castles, suggests a site near to the parish church of St Peter’s established in around 1164 and adjacent to the Caversham Court we know today. What complicates matters is the possibility of archaeological evidence having been washed away, as this part of the Thames has witnessed severe flooding in the past. Additionally it is probable that any reusable building materials were incorporated into subsequent buildings, meaning evidence could be scattered across the town.
What we do know is that William Marshal gave ‘to God and the Church of St Peter in Caversham’ the garden and two acres of land which lay between the churchyard and the river but, again, we don’t know if this was part of his original holdings gifted to him by Richard I.
The search for Marshal’s home in Caversham continues.
Written by Mary Butcher, a U3A Shared Learning Project researcher for the Citizens Project.
