of the same opinion; but Mr. Nichols, whose authority
on subjects of local history, respecting Leicestershire, is generally
decisive and satisfactory, states that "the castle is at present in
every respect considered as being within this county with all the
lands of the extra-parochial part of Belvoir thereto belonging,
(including the site of the Priory,[1]) consisting in the whole of
about 600 acres of wood, meadow, and pasture land; upon which are now
no buildings but the castle, with its offices and the inn. It would be
a difficult matter, notwithstanding, to trace out with accuracy, the
precise boundary of the two counties in this neighbourhood."

[1] At Belvoir was formerly a priory of four black monks,
subordinate to the Abbey of St. Alban, in Hertfordshire, to which
it was annexed by its founder, Robert de Belvideir, or De Todenci,
in the time of William the Conqueror. It was dedicated to St.
Mary; and was valued, at the Dissolution, at L104 19s. 10d. per
annum. Dr. Stukely, in the year 1726, saw the coffin and bones of
the founder, who died in 1088, dug up in the Priory chapel, then
a stable and on a stone was inscribed in large letters, with lead
cast in them, ROBERT DE TODENE LE FVDEVR. Another coffin and
cover near it was likewise discovered with the following
inscription:--"The Vale of Bever, barren of wood, is large and
very plentiful of good corn and grass, and lieth in three shires,
Leicester, Lincoln, and much in Nottinghamshire."

That Belvoir has been the site of a castle since the Norman Conquest
appears well established. Leland says, "The Castle of Belvoir standeth
in the utter part of that way of Leicestershire, on the nape of an
high hill, steep up each way, partly by nature, partly by working of
men's hands, as it may evidently be perceived. Whether there were any
castle there before the Conquest or no I am not sure, but surely I
think no rather than ye. Toteneius was the first inhabiter after the
Conquest. Then it came to Albeneius, and from Albeney to Ros."

The Belvoir estate came into the Manners family, by the marriage of
Eleanor with Robert de Manners of Ethale, Northumberland. Eleanor was
the eldest sister of Edmund, Lord Ros, who resided at the manor-house
of Elsinges, in Enfield, Middlesex, where he died without issue in the
year 1508. His sisters became heiresses to the estates, and Belvoir
being part of the moiety of Eleanor, became