THE Manor of Rufford was at the commencement of the twelfth century the fee of Gilbert de Gaunt. This Gilbert was a grandson of Gislebert de Gaunt, a nephew of William the Conqueror, and his name appears on the roll of Battle Abbey. Gilbert married Ro...
THE Manor of Rufford was at the commencement of the twelfth century the fee of Gilbert de Gaunt. This Gilbert was a grandson of Gislebert de Gaunt, a nephew of William the Conqueror, and his name appears on the roll of Battle Abbey. Gilbert married Roesia, Countess of Lincoln, and was himself created Earl of Lincoln. On his deathbed, in the year 1148, he bequeathed Rufford to a colony of Cistercian monks from Rievaulx.