Gundred

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Gundred, Countess of Surrey (died May 27, 1085) was probably born in Flanders, sister of Gerbod the Fleming, Earl of Chester.^[1]

It has been said that Gundred was not the daughter of William I of England, the Conqueror, but that she was the daughter of Matilda of Flanders by, perhaps, a previous marriage. The Invincible Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 5, p. 26, says that the inseription on Gundred's tombstone describes her as wife of William de Warren and daughter of Wm., the Conqueror. Also in Burke's Dormant and Extinct Peerage, pp. 154, 568 and 588, she is called daughter by Wm., the Conqueror, in a charter signed by Wm., William de Warren and Henry I, son of William, the Conqueror. Thus proving this much discussed question. ^[2]

Gundred married William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey (d. June 20, 1088), who rebuilt Lewes Castle, making it his chief residence. In 1078 he and Gundred founded a Cluniac Priory at Southover, adjoining Lewes, where both were buried.^{[3] [4]}

The Countess had died at Castle Acre, Norfolk, one of her husband's estates.

In the course of the centuries which followed both tombstones disappeared from the priory but in 1774 William Burrell, Esq., an antiquary, discovered Gundred's in Isfield Church (seven miles from Lewes), over the remains of Edward Shirley, Esq., (d. 1550), whose father John was Clerk of the Kitchen to King Henry VII, and had it removed on October 2, 1775, to St. John's Church, Southover, the nearest place to its original site, and placed inside and at the south-west corner of the church, where, until 1847, it could be seen on the floor between pews with a very fine inscription detailing its origins etc.

In 1845, during excavations through the Priory grounds for the South Coast Railway, the lead chests containing the remains of the Earl and his Countess were discovered, and deposited temporarily, for the next two years, beneath Gundred's tombstone. In 1847 a Norman Chapel was erected by public subscription, adjoining the present vestry and chancel. Prior to re-interring the remains in this chapel, both cysts were opened to ascertain if there were any contents, which was found to be the case. New cysts were made and used, and the ancient ones preserved and placed in two recessed arches in the southern wall. Gundred's remains in a good state of preservation although the Earl's has lost some lead. Across the upper part of the right arch is the name Gvndrada. Her tombstone is of black marble.^[5]

The children of William de Warenne and Gundred were:

• William II de Warenne (d. May 11, 1138), buried in Lewes Priory.^{[6] [7]}
• Reginald de Warenne, an adherent of Robert of Normandy.^[8]
• Edith de Warenne, married, firstly, Gerard, Baron de Gournay.^[9]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Bannerman, W.Bruce, FSA., editor, Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, 4th series, London, 1912
• Barlow, Frank, The Feudal Kingdom of England 1012 - 1216, London, 1955
• Burke, John Bernard, The Roll of Battle Abbey, London, 1848
• Burke, John and John Bernard, The Royal Families of England Scotland and Wales, with Their Descendants etc., vol. 1 (1848), vol. 2 (1851), London
• Chandler, Victoria, "Gundrada de Warenne and the Victorian Gentleman-Scholars", Southern History 12 (1990):68-81
• Dunbar, Sir Archibald, Bt., Scottish Kings, a Revised Chronology of Scottish History, 1005 - 1625, Edinburgh, 1899
• Freeman, Edward A., "The parentage of Gundrada, wife of William of Warren", English Historical Review 3 (1888):680-701
• Stapleton, Thomas, "Observations in disproof of the pretended marriage of William de Warren, Earl of Surrey, with a daughter begotten of Matildis, daughter of Baldwin, Comte of Flanders, by William the Conqueror, and illustrative of the origin and early history of the family in Normandy", The Archaeological Journal 3 (1846):1-26
• Waters, Edmond Chester, "Gundreda de Warrenne", The Archaeological Journal 41 (1884):300-312