(known as Hugh the Fat or Hugh Lupus-"the wolf"
Norman Earl of Chester 1171-1101

Hugh de Avaranches was the nephew of William Duke of Normandy (The Conqueror).The Normans leave a dubious legacy in Cheshire. After the conquest in 1070 there was a rebellion in the north of England and the Normans put this rebellion down in a cruel and violent manner. It was called the "harrying of the North" and after ravaging the Yorkshire area the soldiers crossed the Pennines to inflict a similiar treatment on Cheshire. There were several groups who crossed the county indulging in what is called nowadays "ethnic cleansing". Domesday book in 1086 records many places in Cheshire that were still "waste", or found "waste" after the harrying. Chester for instance lost over 200 houses and was "greatly wasted". The first Earl, no doubt, took part in this pillage but was seen in later years as a more romantic figure, for instance the first Duke of Westminster was named Hugh Lupus in his honour in Victorian times.

Hugh Lupus in his Parliament an engraving from mid 17th century

Many images, in and around Chester, can be found paying tribute to Hugh Lupus.
He is depicted as a heroic knight from Norman Times.

A Stone carving above the entrance to Chester Town Hall

Stained glass window in Chester Cathredral Cloisters

Stained glass window in Chester town hall

Carving above a shop on Northgate

A Tudor portrait in Chester Town Hall

What was Earl Hugh really like?
The truth can be gleaned from Chester Cathedral records for as he came to the end of his life he poured money into the new abbeyof St. Werburgh to atone for his sins

This comment by Orderic Vitalis a Monk of Chester on the Earl is illuminating

This man with the help of many cruel Barons shed much Welsh blood. He was not so much lavish as prodigal. His retinue was more like an army than a household and in giving and receiving he gave no account.
He loved the world and all its pomp; he was an active soldier and took great pleasure in gaming and debauchery, in jesters and hounds and other such vanities.

Hugh Lupus in a stained glass window from Brereton Hall

Each day he devastated his own land and preferred falconers and huntsman to cultivators of the soil and ministers of heaven.
He was so much a slave to the gluttony of his belly that weighed down by his fat he could hardly move.
From harlots he had many children of both sexes who almost all came to an unfortunate end.