Walter Espec

Walter Espec was a second generation Anglo-Norman landowner who inherited land in Bedfordshire, but later acquired substantial property in Yorkshire centered on the castles of Wark and Helmsley. Beside his extensive estate he generated income from being a royal justice for many northern counties and from collecting royal taxes in Yorkshire and Durham.

He is remembered for withstanding the Scottish invasion of 1138 at his castle at Wark, and he later organized and rallied the northern barons in their victory over the Scots at the Battle of The Standard in the same year.

At the time of his death Espec was worth around £3,000, around £3.6bn in 2010's money.