Engenulf De Ferriers

The Ferrers Creation

"Ferrer" is Norman French and means "to bind with iron" or " to shoe a horse" (cf. farrier). Ferrières in Normandy, the hometown of the de Ferrers family, was an important centre for ironwork. The Ferrers coat of arms shows six black horseshoes on a silver background. They were descended from Henry de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Ferrières, Lord of Longueville, Normandy, and a Domesday Commissioner; he built Tutbury Castle and Duffield Castle and had large holdings in Derbyshire as well as 17 other counties. The Ferrers, lords of the barony of Ferrieres in Normandy, were accompanied to England by three other families who were their underlords in France: the Curzons (Notre Dame-de-Courson), the Baskervilles (Boscherville) and the Levetts (Livet-en-Ouche).