William FitzAlan took the side of the Empress and was exiled from the region from 1138 until at least 1153. However, endowments continued in FitzAlan's absence. The Empress gave Haughmond land and a mill in Walcot, Shropshire. The land grant at least is generally thought to date from Matilda's time at Oxford in the summer of 1141, when she temporarily had the upper hand in the civil war. The abbey took the precaution of getting Stephen's approval for these valuable gifts – assuming that Stephen's grant of the same property actually was later, which is not absolutely certain. When Henry, Duke of Normandy, the future Henry II, appeared in England in 1153, he was induced to issue a charter at Leicester, confirming his mother's grants. This strategy of obtaining triple grants during the Anarchy was followed also by Lilleshall Abbey.