Around 1130 Combermere Abbey [Map] was founded by Hugh Malbank, Baron of Nantwich, confirmed in 1130 by Ranulf Gernon 4th Earl Chester (age 31) who was one of the witnesses of its foundation charter. Other witnesses included Hugh Malbank's son, William, and Roger de Clinton, the Bishop of Coventry. The original grant included the manor of Wilkesley, comprising two Domesday manors worth 18 shillings pre-Conquest; the villages of Dodcott, Lodmore and Royal; land at Burleydam; a mill and fishery at Chorley; and woods at Brentwood, Light Birchwood and Butterley Heyes. The Abbey originally belonged to the Savigniac order, which merged with the Cistercian order by 1147.