The De Bohun Family Lineage
The De Bohuns were a wealthy, powerful noble family who arrived in England alongside William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of 1066. They served as Lords of the Honour of Trowbridge for 150 years.
Humphrey de Bohun I: Built Trowbridge Castle to protect his lands against Saxon rebellions.
Humphrey III de Bohun (d. 1181): Great-grandson of Humphrey I. He was the 5th feudal baron of Trowbridge, held Caldicot Castle in Wales, and served King Henry II as Lord High Constable of England.
Margaret of Huntingdon: Humphrey III’s wife and mother to Henry. She was a granddaughter of King David I of Scotland.
Henry de Bohun (1176–1220): Son and heir of Humphrey III and Margaret. His powerful family ties included his half-sister, Constance, Duchess of Brittany.
Henry de Bohun & Local Impact
As Earl of Hereford and an advisor to King John, Henry left a lasting mark on Trowbridge. Before Henry, Trowbridge was largely a rural manor cantered around the castle built by his great-grandfather. In 1200, Henry secured a royal market charter from King John. The charter granted the right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair. To attract merchants and artisans, Henry laid out planned property plots (burgage plots) along the market routes. While charging market stallholders was profitable for Henry, it also laid the financial groundwork for Trowbridge’s future growth, paving the way for its later rise as a major centre for the Wiltshire cloth trade.
Henry altered the physical landscape of Trowbridge in ways that still define the modern town layout. The original Saxon church was located inside the castle walls (the inner bailey). Henry moved the church outside the castle grounds to its current site in the town centre. By opening up space around the castle ditch for stallholders and public trading, he established the curved shape of the marketplace. This directly influenced the path of modern thoroughfares like Fore Street and Castle Street.
Clash with King John & Magna Carta
His relationship with the Crown eventually turned bitter. When summoned to court, Henry refused to attend, claiming he was sick in bed. An enraged King John retaliated by stripping Henry of Trowbridge and handing the lands over to his rival, William Longespée.
Pushed to the edge by King John’s endless tax demands for foreign wars, Henry joined the rebel barons in opposing the king. Together, they forced John to accept Magna Carta in 1215. In the civil war that followed, Henry backed Prince Louis of France, but his fortunes turned when he was captured at the Battle of Lincoln in 1217. Henry de Bohun died three years later, in June 1220, while on crusade to the Holy Land.
