William Devereux, Baron Devereux of Lyonshall held Lyonshall Castle controlling a strategically vital approach to the border of Wales in the time of?
William Devereux, Baron Devereux of Lyonshall William Devereux, Baron Devereux of Lyonshall, was an important Marcher Lord, and held Lyonshall Castle controlling a strategically vital approach to the border of Wales in the time of Edward I and Edward II. He was the first of this family officially called to Parliament, and was ancestor to John Devereux, 1st Baron Devereux of Whitchurch Maund, the Devereux Earls of Essex, and the Devereux Viscounts of Hereford. His coat of arms was the same as his father's and described as "argent, fess and three roundels in chief gules" which passed to the descendants of his first wife, the Devereux of Bodenham; or "gules od un fesse d'argent ove turteaus d'argent en le chief" which passed to the descendants of his second wife, the Devereux of Frome.
Berkhamsted Castle Berkhamsted Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey castle in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The castle was built to obtain control of a key route between London and the Midlands during the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century. Robert of Mortain, William the Conqueror's half brother, was probably responsible for managing its construction, after which he became the castle's owner. The castle was surrounded by protective earthworks and a deer park for hunting. The castle became a new administrative centre of the former Anglo-Saxon settlement of Berkhamsted. Subsequent kings granted the castle to their chancellors. The castle was substantially expanded in the mid-12th century, probably by Thomas Becket.