.jpg)
THE TEMPLARS
IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE
PRECEPTORY OF GUITING
The preceptory of the Templars at Guiting was founded about the middle of the twelfth century. Gilbert de Lacy and Roger de Waterville gave lands at Guiting; Roger, earl of Hereford, and Roger d'Oilly were among the benefactors of the Templars in Gloucestershire.
The preceptory gave its name to an secluded village on the river Windrush, near Winchcombe - the name Guiting meaning Gushing or flooding...
Slate for roofing were produced in the area, forming one of the sources of income for the Templars. The Abbot of Evesham leased meadowland in Bourton on the Water to them,
nothig no remains of the preceptory at Guiting, though there are traces of the numerous mills which ground corn at the location.
Guiting was the official centre for all the templar Lands in Gloucestershire
The following lands held by the Knights Templar were managed by the Preceptory of Guiting
SALPERTON -
At Salperton, By the gift of Peter of Stodleia, one virgate and a half of land.
Richard Wringe holds one virgate for 5 shillings; Ahelard, for half a virgate, 2 shillings
RUDGE -
At Rudge, By the gift of Reginald of St. Valéry, a certain piece of land which Robert of Felde holds for 3 pounds and 10 shillings.
GLOUCESTER (Head of the Bridge)
At Gloucester
By the gift of Roger, Earl of Hereford, one parcel of land at the head of the bridge, which Liueua holds for 5 shillings.
BODDINGTON
At Boddington
By the gift of Reginald of Beckford, half a virgate of land which Peter holds for 2 shillings and 6 pence.
SHIPTON
At Shipton By the gift of Roger de Champflur, one virgate and three acres of land.
Henry holds the virgate for 5 shillings;,
ANDOVERSFORD
At Andoversford (Temple Aneford)By the gift of William of Dowdeswell.Jordan holds the demesne (so written “dominum”) and 2½ virgates for 18 pence.Alan holds one virgate for 7 shillings.Hugh of Arle holds one virgate for 7 shillings.Gunild, a widow, holds half a virgate for 21 pence.Ralph holds one croft for 2 shillings.Herbert holds one croft for 17½ pence.Hugh of Arle (again) holds half a virgate for 30 pence.Ralph the clerk holds one garden (sartum) for 10 shillings.William holds the three acres for 12 pence.
FILKINS
Filikins was originally part of Broadwell parish and given by Ralph de Limesi of Broadwell to the Knights Templar soon after 1185. Filkins mill was granted to the Templars by Alan de Limesy (d. by 1162), and in 1185 was leased to Ralph Long for 5s. a year.
BROADWELL
The manor of Bradwell St John, so called from the 16th century, (fn. 104) originated in Alan de Limesy's grant to the Knights Templar in the mid 12th century of five hides in Broadwell, together with the church and rectory estate, and meadow at Cottesmore. During the 13th century the Templars repeatedly sought warranty for six hides or 13 librates of land against owners of the other manors. In 1279 they held over 24 yardlands in Broadwell, and another hide was held for 4 marks' rent of Brimpsfield priory (Glos.), whose right is otherwise unrecorded. Broadwell mill was acquired from Ralph of Wigginton by the Templars some time before 1185, when it was leased for 10s. a year.
Broadwell is now extremely small but in the 12th century it was bigger than Burford with a population of approx 2,000
The building of the church of St Peter & St Pauls in Broadwell history does coincide with the rise in power of the Knights Templar after the First Crusade in 1096, their official adoption by the Catholic Church in 1129, the gift of land in Broadwell parish at Filkins to them in 1185 and the building of the spire using their money in about 1260.
As with all Templar Churches, The church doesn’t face east but north-east, 45 degrees, which accords with the Templar’s practice of aligning churches with sunrise on the Patronal Saint’s day, 29th June for the Saints Peter and Paul.
ANDOVERSFORD (Temple Aniford)
At Andoversford (Temple Aneford), By the gift of William of Dowdeswell.
Jordan holds the demesne (so written “dominum”) and 2½ virgates for 18 pence.
Alan holds one virgate for 7 shillings.
Hugh of Arle holds one virgate for 7 shillings.
Gunild, a widow, holds half a virgate for 21 pence.
Ralph holds one croft for 2 shillings.
Herbert holds one croft for 17½ pence.
Hugh of Arle (again) holds half a virgate for 30 pence.
Ralph the clerk holds one garden (sartum) for 10 shillings.
PART OF TEMPLE GUITING
SHIPTON
KENCOT
LITTLE FARINGDON
CULKERTON (RODMORTON) -
BARTON - 2 Mills
Barton (Temple Guiting) and the Knights Templar
Barton, a hamlet within the manor of Temple Guiting in Gloucestershire, formed part of an important medieval estate held by the Knights Templar from the mid-12th century. The estate, centred on Temple Guiting (medieval Guttinges), was granted to the Templars by local lords including Gilbert de Lacy and Roger de Waterville. Barton functioned as a dependent demesne or industrial outlying settlement within this manor.
Medieval documentary evidence records that the Templars constructed two watermills at Barton by the late 12th century (c.1185). One is specifically described as a fulling mill, used in cloth production to process woollen fabric, while the second mill may also have been for fulling or possibly for grain. These mills are among the earliest documented fulling mills in England, indicating early industrial investment by the Templars in the Cotswold wool economy.
A contemporary estate account (like the text you are working from) notes:
“The brothers made one fulling mill at Bereton (Barton)… also another mill there…”
This confirms that the mills were deliberately built by the Templars as part of a planned estate economy based on sheep, wool, and cloth processing.
The mills were almost certainly located on the River Windrush at Barton, the only substantial water source suitable for water-powered machinery. Fulling mills were typically placed slightly away from the main settlement due to noise and smell but within demesne land for control and profit. Barton’s position on the Windrush within Temple Guiting manor made it ideal for such industrial use.
Although no medieval document records the exact field locations, landscape evidence and LiDAR suggest the mills stood on terraces beside the Windrush near Barton, likely forming a small managed industrial complex associated with the manor’s demesne farm.
After the suppression of the Knights Templar in the early 14th century, the Temple Guiting estate passed to the Knights Hospitaller, and the mills probably continued in operation in some form, though their exact later history is unclear. Today no standing medieval structures survive, but earthworks and landscape features likely preserve the sites.
In summary, Barton was not an independent manor but an integral industrial component of the Temple Guiting Templar estate, and the two mills recorded there represent an early and significant example of monastic-military involvement in England’s developing medieval wool and cloth industry.
At Beretune (Barton):
Quenild, a widow, for 1 hide, 5 shillings.
Richard Brun, for 1 virgate, 5 shillings.
Thurstan, for 1 virgate, 5 shillings.
Edith, a widow, for 1 virgate, 5 shillings.
Ralph, for 1½ virgates, 8 shillings.
This is the total: 2 pounds and 8 shillings.
KINETON
Kineton formed part of the wider Temple Guiting (Guttinges) Templar estate in the north Cotswolds.
It was not a separate preceptory or manor headquarters, but a dependent agricultural manor or sub-manor.
The Templars held:
-
arable land
-
tenant holdings
-
customary rents
-
probably pasture for sheep
No mill or church is listed there — suggesting Kineton was primarily an agricultural rental unit within the estate.
Land was leased to the following:
At Kineton:
Hugh, son of the clerk, for 3 virgates, 13 shillings.
Hugh Pirun, for 1 virgate, 5 shillings.
Pagan, for half a hide, 10 shillings.
Ralph Fappi, for 1 virgate, 5 shillings.
Unfrid the shepherd, for 1 virgate, 4 shillings.
Hugh Caperun, for 1 virgate, 4 shillings.
Unfrid the lame, for half a virgate, 2 shillings.
Reginald the smith, for half a hide, 8 shillings.
Matilda, a widow, for 1 virgate, 4 shillings.
This is the total: 2 pounds and 15 shillings.
EDSTONE
TEMPLAR FIGURES AT GLOUCESTER
Knights Templar at Gloucester
Preceptors of Guiting
-
Coningeston (Conyngeston) (John of) - Commander of Guiting, arrested in January 1308, sent in penance to the Diocese of Worcester - Present in London in 1310
-
Craucombe (William of) - Templar at Guiting, arrested in January 1308, sent in penance to Mulcheney Abbey in the diocese of Bath and Wells, still alive in 1338