Robert FitzMaldred, Lord of Raby

Robert FitzMaldred married Isabel de Neville, and their children started to use the "de Neville" surname. The FitzMaldreds were one of the leading families of the North East and held two of Durham's most important castles: Brancepeth and Raby. Descended from the Earls of Northumberland, they were a Saxon family who, surprisingly, held on to their estates and influence even after the Norman Conquest.

The next owner of Raby, Robert Nevill (d:1282), was Castellan, during Henry II's war with the Barons, of Bamburgh, Scarborough and Newcastle. He was succeeded by his grandson, Ranulf, 1st Lord Nevill, whose father, Robert, had married Mary, daughter of Robert FitzRanulf. He was succeeded by his second son, Ralph, whose brother Robert Nevill, known as the Peacock of the North, was slain at Berwick in 1319 by the Black Douglas. Ralph, 2nd Baron Nevill, was also captured by the Black Douglas in the same fray, but was ransomed and fought in further campaigns against the Scots, and was the victor of the Battle of Neville's Cross at which he took prisoner, David II, King of Scotland. He was a great benefactor of the Church, and when he died in 1367, was the first layman to be buried in Durham Cathedral.

Ralph was succeeded by his eldest son, John, 3rd Baron Nevill, KG, who completed the building of Raby Castle, having obtained a licence to crenellate in 1378. He was a great captain, being appointed Governor of Aquitaine, 1378-81, Lord Warden of the Marches and Joint Commissioner for treating for peace with Scotland. He died in 1388 and was buried in the Nevill Chantry in Durham Cathedral, where his tomb was much mutilated by Scottish prisoners during the Civil War in 1650.

John, Lord Nevill, was succeeded by his son, Ralph, mentioned by Shakespeare in "Henry V", who was created Earl of Westmoreland in 1397, the first to hold this title, by Richard II, but he afterwards joined the Lancastrians and was instrumental in placing his brother-in-law. Henry IV, on the throne. In return the King created him Earl of Richmond, a Knight of the Garter and Earl Marshal of England. His first wife was Lady Margaret Stafford, by whom he had seven children, and his second Lady Joan Beaufort, daughter of John of Gaunt, by whom he had a further fourteen children.

Their youngest daughter, Cicely, the "Rose of Raby", married Richard, Duke of York, and was the mother of Edward IV and Richard III. Through her granddaughter Elizabeth of York, Queen of Henry VII, she is an ancestress of the Royal family. The Earl's youngest son, Edward, was created Baron Bergavenny and his descendant, the Marquess of Abergavenny, is the present head of the Nevill family. The Earl was a great church builder, and his alabaster tomb in Staindrop Church, where his effigy lies between that of his two wives, is regarded as being among the finest monuments in the North.

Brancepeth castle

In the 12th century Brancepeth belonged to a prominent local family of Anglo-Saxon origin called Bulmer. The Bulmers somehow managed to hold on to Brancepeth after the Norman Conquest, along with land they held at Sheriff Hutton, near York, where they were the Sheriffs of the name.

In 1166, Bertram, the last male heir of the Brancepeth Bulmers, died and the property passed to his daughter, Emma. It was through her marriage to Geoffrey Neville that Brancepeth began its four centuries of association with the Neville family. Geoffrey Neville was from a family of Norman origin, being himself the grandson of William the Conqueror's Admiral of the Fleet. The Nevilles adopted the bull's head as their family emblem in recognition of their Anglo-Saxon Bulmer blood.

The Brancepeth Nevilles later acquired Raby Castle, in south Durham, through a subsequent intermarriage with the Fitzmaldred family, but Brancepeth was still of primary importance. From 1397, the leading Nevilles became the Earls of Westmorland, although their land was concentrated in Durham and Yorkshire. The first earl was largely responsible for building Brancepeth Castle, although only a little of his work remains today.

Brancepeth was a great military stronghold, which was swarming with soldiers and always stronger, defensively, than Raby. Its solid walls reflect the major role the Nevilles played in defending the North. FAMOUSLY, the Nevilles fought and defeated the Scots at Nevilles Cross, near Durham, in 1346, and they were one of the most powerful families in England during the Middle Ages. Always well-prepared for battle in Scotland, England or France, their retinue at Agincourt in 1415 included 30 horses and 80 archers from Brancepeth. Only the Percys of Alnwick, in Northumberland, could match the Nevilles in the North. Ironically, it was an allegiance of the two families that brought about their downfall.

In 1569, the Percys and Nevilles colluded in a Northern catholic rising. This was the Rising of the North, an attempt to restore catholicism and release the imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots in defiance of Queen Elizabeth I. A great military assemblage gathered at Brancepeth. Wordsworth commemorated the event 200 years later in part of his lengthy poem The White Doe of Rylstone.

The rebel leaders were disappointed by their level of support, despite amassing 4,000 soldiers and 600 horses. Walter Devereux, the Earl of Essex, had raised a much larger force against the rebels at York. The rebels were quickly disheartened and fled north to Scotland without battle.

The Earl of Westmorland escaped to Flanders to avoid punishment, and lived there until his death. It was safer to be abroad. Rebels were executed in every town and village from Wetherby to Newcastle. Sixtysix were hanged at Durham alone. Brancepeth Castle was lost to the Nevilles forever, and seized by the Crown.