The Invasion
On 28 September 1066, approximately 7,000 Norman soldiers landed at Pevensey Bay on the south coast of England. Their leader, William, Duke of Normandy, claimed the English throne based on an alleged promise by Edward the Confessor and an oath sworn by Harold Godwinson. Harold, who had just defeated a Norwegian invasion at Stamford Bridge near York on 25 September, force-marched his exhausted army 250 miles south in just 13 days. On 14 October, the two armies met on Senlac Hill, near Hastings. The battle lasted from dawn to dusk — one of the longest pitched battles of the medieval period.
Harold's army marched 250 miles in 13 days after fighting at Stamford Bridge — arriving at Hastings already exhausted. It was one of the most fateful forced marches in military history.
The Fall of Harold
The Battle of Hastings was extraordinarily close. The English shield wall held for most of the day, repulsing charge after charge. But a feigned Norman retreat drew part of the English line out of position. As dusk approached, Harold was struck — tradition says by an arrow through the eye, though the evidence is disputed. With their king dead, the English army broke. In a single day, the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy that had ruled England for centuries was swept away. William was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066. But conquering London was one thing; controlling the vast, hostile north was another entirely.
Colswein of Lincoln — The Survivor
In the aftermath of Hastings, most Anglo-Saxon lords were stripped of their lands and replaced by Norman barons. But not all. A handful of Englishmen who submitted to William early and proved their loyalty were rewarded. One of these was Colswein, the town-reeve (royal steward) of Lincoln. Colswein had lived in England before the conquest but owned only four tofts — modest urban properties. He was not a great lord. He was an administrator, a bureaucrat, a survivor. And it was precisely these qualities that William valued. In a conquered land full of resentful Saxon nobles, a loyal English administrator who knew the local terrain, the local customs, and the local people was worth his weight in gold.
Colswein owned just 4 tofts before the Conquest. Within 20 years, he would hold 56 lordships — one of the most dramatic social ascents in English history.
The Creation of the Barony
William the Conqueror rewarded Colswein's loyalty with the Barony of Brattleby — a feudal grant that made him one of the most powerful men in Lincolnshire. The barony was centred on the village of Brattleby, approximately 7 miles north of Lincoln, but its lands stretched across the entire county. Colswein was also granted undeveloped land outside the walls of Lincoln, where he built 36 houses and 2 churches — effectively creating a new suburb of the city. This was not merely a gift; it was a strategic appointment. Lincoln was one of the most important cities in England, and William needed a trusted man to hold it.
The Domesday Record
In 1086, William ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book — the most comprehensive survey of land ownership ever undertaken in medieval Europe. Open Domesday records 56 post-Conquest holdings linked to Colswein across the realm, with the bulk of his honour concentrated in Lincolnshire. The estates included Brattleby, Barlings, Faldingworth, Fillingham, Cammeringham, Burton-le-Coggles, Billingborough, and dozens more scattered across the county. For these vast estates, Colswein was required to provide the equivalent of 16 knights for the defence of the realm — a significant military obligation that reflected the barony's importance. The Domesday Book entry for Colswein paints a picture of a man who had risen from modest origins to become one of Lincolnshire's greatest landholders.
56 lordships. 16 knights' service. From 4 tofts to one of Lincolnshire's greatest barons — all in the space of 20 years.
The Harrying of the North
William's conquest was not a peaceful transition. In 1069–1070, he unleashed the 'Harrying of the North' — a scorched-earth campaign of shocking brutality across Yorkshire and the north of England. Villages were burned, livestock slaughtered, and crops destroyed. The Domesday Book, compiled 16 years later, still records vast tracts of the north as 'waste.' An estimated 100,000 people died from the resulting famine. Lincolnshire, on the edge of the devastation, was deeply affected. It was in this context of terror and opportunity that Colswein built his barony — a Saxon survivor in a Norman world, holding together a shattered landscape through loyalty, administration, and sheer determination.