Barony of Halton

The Barony of Halton, in Cheshire, England, comprised a succession of 15 barons and hereditary Constables of Chester under the overlordship of the Earl of Chester. It was not an English feudal barony granted by the king but a separate class of barony within the County Palatine of Chester.

After the Norman conquest, William the Conqueror created the three earldoms of Shrewsbury, Hereford and Chester to protect his border with Wales. In 1071, the Earl of Chester, Hugh Lupus, made his cousin, Nigel of Cotentin, the 1st Baron of Halton. Halton was a village in Cheshire which is now part of the town of Runcorn. At its centre is a rocky prominence on which was built Halton Castle, the seat of the barons of Halton.

Nigel was the hereditary Constable of Chester. In 1077 he fought against the Welsh at the Battle of Rhuddlan. It is almost certain that he built a motte-and-bailey castle on Halton Hill.

William fitz Nigel, Nigel's son, was also marshal of the Earls' host, which was an important position in the Norman military hierarchy. In addition to his land in Halton, his estate included land in other parts of Cheshire and also in Normandy. He married the eldest daughter of Yorfid, on whose death without a male heir the Lancashire manors of Widnes, Appleton, Cronton and Rainhill came to his son-in-law, William. In 1115 William established a priory of the Augustinian Order of Canons Regular in Runcorn. He was buried at Chester.

William, son of William fitz Nigel, in 1134 he moved the priory from Runcorn to a site to the east of Halton. This became Norton Priory. William died childless in Normandy.

Eustace fitz John succeeded to Halton as husband of the elder sister of William fitz William. He had inherited the barony of Knaresborough and by an earlier marriage had also gained the baronies of Malton and Alnwick. He was killed fighting the Welsh.

Richard, son of Eustace fitz John, married the eventual heiress to the de Lacy family of Pontefract, whose inheritance was eventually acquired by their grandson Roger.

John, son of Richard fitz Eustace, was a governor in Ireland for Henry II. Being a patron of science, he maintained an astronomer at Halton Castle. He founded a Cistercian monastery at Stanlow. In 1190 he granted the second known charter for a ferry at Runcorn Gap. He served with Richard I in the Third Crusade and died at the siege of Acre.