Walter Espec (died 1153) was a prominent military and judicial figure of the reign of Henry I of England.

His father was probably William Speche (William Espec), who joined William the Conqueror in the Norman conquest of England.^[1] The senior Speche is believed to have become the feudal baron of Old Warden by 1086.^[2]

In the years up to 1120, Espec controlled northern England, alongside Eustace fitz John.^[3] He was the builder of Helmsley Castle; he built also Wark Castle.^[4] As an old man, when High Sheriff of Yorkshire, he fought against the Scots at the Battle of the Standard in 1138.^[5] He was the founder of Kirkham Priory (Augustinians) and later Rievaulx Abbey (Cistercians).^[6] Kirkham Priory was founded around 1130.^[7] He then donated 1,000 acres (4 km²) to Rievaulx, where building started in 1132, and is largely credited for the arrival of the Cistercians in England.^[8] By 1135 he also founded Warden Abbey^[9] (Wardon) in Bedfordshire, a daughter house of Rievaulx. Walter Espec later became a Cistercian monk himself.^[7]

• Concise Dictionary of National Biography
• Paul Dalton, "Espec, Walter (d. 1147x58)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
• Janet E. Burton, The monastic order in Yorkshire, 1069–1215, Cambridge studies in medieval life and thought, Cambridge University Press, 1999, 352 pages. ISBN 0-521-55229-X.
• A. Gransden, Historical Writing in England c. 550–c.1307, 1974.
• Christopher Tyerman, " Walter Espec", in Who's Who in Early Medieval England, 1066–1272, Shepheard-Walwyn (editor), 1996, p. 113–114. (ISBN 0-85683-132-8).

• Four Great Abbeys and Priories of Yorkshire
• Walter Espec, founder of Rievaulx abbey.