published by Grose,[123] gives it as his opinion that,
among the ancient Britons, it was called _Rupecester_, but, on the Roman
invasion, got the new name of _Dofris_, _Dobris_, or _Doris_, "in
consequence of the filling or damming up of the harbor;" "Doafer," as he
observes a few pages before, "signifying, in the language of those
times, a harbor shut up, or of difficult access." A still higher
authority, the learned Bishop Huet,[124] classes the word, Douvres,
among those whose origin is to be sought in the ancient language of
Gaul, and proposes two derivations: one from _Dufyrrha_, a rising
ground; the other from _Dvvr_, the term for water. Thus, without giving
any opinion of his own, he leaves the matter to his reader, with a
"utrum horum mavis elige."

The Norman village of Douvres is celebrated upon more than one account:
it was the birth-place of Thomas of Dover, almoner to the Conqueror, and
by him created archbishop of York in 1070; of Sampson of Dover, his
brother, made bishop of Worcester in 1097; and of a second Thomas of
Dover, nephew to the first of the name, who, in 1109, had the singular
honor of being elected at once to the episcopal throne of London, and
the archiepiscopal throne of York; the latter of which he accepted. His
brother, Richard, wore at the same time the mitre of Bayeux.--Douvres
was the principal place of one of the seven baronies, which formed the
episcopal manse of the bishops of Bayeux. During the thirteenth, and the
two following centuries, it was also selected for their country-seat.
Within its limits stands the chapel of the _Delivrande_,[125] said to
have been founded by St. Regnobert, the second bishop of the diocese,
and still held in the highest repute for its sanctity.

Of the church of Fontaine-le-Henri, the architecture is decidedly
Norman, and is distinguished by a bold and noble style, resembling in
its general character, as well as in its individual features, the
abbatial churches of St. George, and of the Trinity. Hence, though no
record is left of the actual founder, there is little room for doubt as
to the aera of the foundation. It may be observed on this occasion, that
in Normandy, as in England, it very seldom happens that information is
to be obtained on these particulars, when the same individual united in
his person the characters of lord of the village and patron of the
living. It was only where benefices were in the hands of religious
houses, that events so ge