WURTS’ MAGNA CHARTA provided a brief accounting of the feudal headquarters of some
of the Magna Charta Barons. Some of the castles have been badly damaged. Some have
disappeared entirely. Often we can learn of them through Medieval and Renaissance
accounts, and some of them require the discerning eye of the archeologist. Others await
the evidence brought out with a shovel and pick, by the trained archeological historian.
A portion of the information concerning Surety Baron JOHN FITZROBERT is as follows:
JOHN FITZROBERT, the Surety, married Ada Baliol, and in her right became lord of
Barnard Castle, whose founder was Barnard Baliol. The Castle is now a scanty ruin, but the
remaining walls stand high on a cliff scarped, so that wall and bank are one, dropping
down to the River Tees. The Castle looms over the town, and may be approached through a
gate in the yard of the King's Head Inn.
The date of the Castle's founding is between 1112 and 1132. The keep, known as Baliol's
Tower, stands fifty feet high and served as a background for Sir Walter Scott's Rokeby.
The surrounding property extends over six acres.
This same Surety, FitzRobert, was also lord of the handsome Warkworth Castle in the
border country of Northumberland. It is an excellently preserved fortress built, at the
earliest, in the 12th Century. It is situated near the mouth of the Coquet River. One
approaches it from a double arched bridge and finds that it is bounded on three sides by
water. The walls, gateway and Great Hall are intact, as are the Lion Tower of the 13th
Century and the 14th Century keep. Robert FitzRichard probably added to it in Henry II's
reign. It became the property of the Percy family in the reign of Edward III, and is now
held by the Dukes of Northumberland.
When the Barons met at Saint Edmondsbury, John FitzRobert, the Surety, was still loyal
to King John and was, with John Marshall, joint governor of the Castles of Norwich and
Oxford. Subsequently he joined the insurrection, and took such a prominent part that his
lands were seized by the King. He returned allegiance in the next reign, his Castles and
vast estates were returned to him, and he was constituted high sheriff of co.
Northumberland and governor of New-Castle-upon-Tyne. He died in 1240, the same year as his
father. The monk, Matthew Paris, records: "In this year died John FitzRobert, a man
of noble birth, and one of the chief Barons of the Northern provinces of England."
Appreciation is expressed to Reed M. W. Wurts, one of the Heralds of the Society for
furnishing the Baron’s Shield on this page.