The Domesday Book

In the years after the Norman Conquest in 1066, the county of Cheshire was an important defensive centre for William I, as the main gateway to the North West.

Despite its importance in the defence against incursions by the Welsh and the Irish, William had little or no land under his direct control in the county, suggesting that he placed a lot of trust in Earl Hugh Lopus of Chester, his most powerful lord and tenant-in-chief in the area.

Crewe, then called Coppenhall, was held by William Mallbank, the powerful baron of Nantwich, who was tenant-in-chief for many lordships in the county of Cheshire. Mallbank was a younger son of the Brecy family from Brecy, near Caen in Normandy.

The knight's fees of Crewe were held by Richard de Vernon, another very powerful man in Cheshire, who held many other knight's fees as well as Crewe's. Knight's fees are the dues paid to the overlord on the event of a vassal's (subordinate of humble origin) death, to be paid by the deceased vassal's heir.