Roger de Poitou is granted lands

At the time of the Battle of Hastings, Heysham belonged to Tostig (son of Earl of Godwin, Earl of Northumbria), who was living at Halton. After William I died in 1087, he appointed his second son William heir to the throne. This caused a dispute over the crown between William and his older brother, Robert.

‘Count Roger de Poitou appears to have supported William in his struggle for the throne, and soon the Count’s lands were returned to him with full powers to administer at his own discretion. In addition he was granted areas of land not previously held by him, including Heysham and the other settlements attached to Halton.
Throughout the rest of the country the huge Anglo-Saxon land holdings had already been broken up into more manageable areas of land, but until now this had not been attempted in the north, or if attempted had not been achieved [...] One thing was certain, Heysham, Poulton, Torrisholme, Bare, Heaton, Oxcliffe, Ovangle, Middleton, Overton and the rest no longer “belonged to Halton”, they belonged to their creator, Count Roger de Poitou’.

The History of Heysham, A wide-angled view, Flaxington, David, 2001

Return to the Heysham timeline