Romille built the first Skipton Castle in 1090 to repel the expansions of Malcolm III of Scotland.
In the Domesday Book the multiple estate of Bolton Abbey was listed as going from the lordship of Edwin, Earl of Mercia to the Clamores of Yorkshire.
The Bolton Abbey estate then included 77 carucates of ploughland (9240 acres/3850ha): Halton East, Embsay, Draughton, Skibeden, Skipton, Low Snaygill, Thorlby, Addingham, Beamsley, Holme, Gargrave, Stainton, Otterburn, Scosthrop, Malham, Anley, Coniston Cold, Hellifield, Hanlith.
Finding the Saxon manse at Bolton Abbey beyond repair Romille selected a rocky outcrop in more strategic location in 1090 and built the eminently defensible Skipton Castle[3][4] After 1102 King Henry I confiscated the nearby Craven lands of the rebellious lords Roger the Poitevin, Erneis of Burun and Gilbert Tison.
[5] Robert de Romille's heir was his daughter Cecilia, who married William le Meschines, the lord of Copeland.