The customs called of the Welsh in King Edward’s land in Arcenefeld, or Irchenfield, also there recorded, are curious, and show not only the early existence of a local militia to resist the Welsh, but that the people were mostly of Welsh blood, and were employed against their countrymen. The king held three churches there, and the priests of them were to be the king’s legates or ambassadors in Wales, and when the army marched against an enemy, to the men of Archenfield was committed the post of trust and danger. During the advance they were to form the “Auantwarde,” and in retreat the “Redrewarde.” Such, then, having been the antecedents of Herefordshire, it is not to be wondered at that it bristled with strong places, nearly all of which show indications of early dates, and in many may be traced the mount or motte, which in England there is strong reason to regard as in favour in the tenth century. Domesday, usually so silent as to fortresses, and enumerating only forty-nine in all England, mentions in this county eight, and two strong houses. There were, however, many more, and at this day there remain traces more or less considerable of twenty-eight, of which many preserve the mount, and others earthworks of an early character. Similar works are found at Brecon and Builth, places known to have been held by the English at an early period. No doubt these strongholds, originally strengthened with timber, were burned again and again by the insurgent Welsh; but the positions of most of them were well chosen, and each had its surrounding estate, so that when, after the Conquest, the great Norman barons marched into Wales, they constructed upon these sites castles of masonry after their fashion, of which a few remain, though many, having been destroyed, have been rebuilt in the reign of Henry III., or later. William’s arrival no doubt confirmed and extended any local power that may have been allowed to Richard Fitz-Scrob and his son, under Harold. Osborn, as sheriff, held Hereford, and either he or the first Norman earl probably rebuilt the castle in the Norman manner. William FitzOsborn, the great Norman chief, “Magister militum bellicosus,” Earl of Hereford from 1067 to 1071, was a fearful scourge of the Welsh, whom he drove back and vanquished on the banks of the distant Rhymny. To him are attributed the castles of Strigwil, Clifford, Wigmore, and Ewias—that is, the Norman part of them, for some at least preserve older earthworks. Roger de Bretuil, William’s third son, succeeded him in the earldom. He plays no part in the history of shire or castle. Failing in rebellion in the eastern counties, he ended his days in prison.