THE KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS
IN LEICESTERSHIRE
DALBY & HEATHER -
The Knights Hospitallers at Dalby, Leicestershire
The Knights Hospitallers established a commandery at Dalby by 1206, on lands believed to have been granted by Robert le Bossu, 2nd Earl of Leicester. Their estates here covered around 1,440 acres, making it one of their more important holdings in the region.
By the 14th century, the nearby preceptory at Heather was joined with Dalby, and together they became known as “Dalby and Heather,” with Dalby as the leading site. The estates were productive, with windmills at Dalby, watermills at Heather, and dovecotes, orchards, fishponds and farmland bringing in steady income. Sheep farming was especially important, supported by a shepherd at Beaumont Leys, another estate under Dalby’s control.
The Hospitallers also held the advowson of the parish church, today replaced by the present Church of St John the Baptist, where they earned income from tithes. In 1338 two brothers were recorded at Dalby: Brother Johannes Larcher, knight and preceptor, and Brother Peter of Hegh, likely his assistant. Over the following centuries other preceptors included John Dingley, John Langstrothyr, Thomas Newport, Henry and John Babbington, and finally Henry Poole, who served until the Order’s suppression in England in the 1540s.
Today, little survives of the medieval commandery. Only faint earthworks remain on the raised ground beyond St John’s church, where horses and sheep now graze. Inside the church, a possible Hospitaller grave slab offers a final link to Dalby’s long history with the Order.
Read More about the commandery of Dalby & Heather on our blog site by clicking here
jpg.jpg)
ROTHLEY TEMPLE
SWINFORD -
Around the year 1190, Robert Revel granted approximately 160 acres of land to the Knights Hospitaller, leading to the establishment of a Commandery. However, by 1220, it appears that the site had come under the jurisdiction of the nearby Dalby Commandery. By 1338, records describe it as a camera — a lesser administrative unit within the Order. According to the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535, the camera was generating income, with its financial details recorded as follows:
-
There is also one small garden messuage there, and they are worth per annum - 12 pence (12d)
-
And from the assize rent, with the works of the natives - 7 pounds, 6 shillings, and 8 pence
-
And from the rent of Rokingham Castle - 7 shillings, 6½ pence (90.5 pence)
-
From the purchases of the courts - 12 Shillings (144 pence)
-
Of 561 acres of land, the price of the acre is 4d - 8 pounds and 19 shillings
-
Of 333 acres of meadow, the price of the acre is 12d - 1 pound and 3 shillings (23 Shillings)
-
From the profit of the stables - 40 Shillings
-
The church there for its own use, is worth - 13 shillings and 4 pence
-
The total sum of the receipts and profits of the said chamber - 40 marks, 9 shillings, 2½ pence (6,510.5 pence)
With their outgoings including the following, totalling 30 Marks
-
There upon in the visitation of the Prior
-
for one day In the rent settled by the lord of Wouer
-
Item in the salary of the seneschal holding the courts and defending the pleas
-
In the clothing and salary of the bailiff guarding the said chamber
-
In the provision of the archdeacon
-
In the food and drink of the bailiff and those who came over
-
In the improvement of houses
-
In the salaries of the cowherd, the shepherd, and the swineherd, per year
Whilst making a profit, the books also note - And thus they remain to be paid to the Treasury for the burdens to bear And they can hardly be raised these days
Which shows the slow down of the camera at this time.
Beaumont Leys
The Knights Hospitallers established a manor, or camera, at Beaumont Leys near Leicester, holding it from around 1240 until 1482. The estate was granted to them in the mid-13th century by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. Previously, the land had been held by the Earls of Leicester and briefly passed to the Knights Templars, who later lost possession. In 1482, the Hospitallers exchanged Beaumont Leys with King Edward IV in return for the more lucrative rectory of St Botolph in Boston, Lincolnshire.
The manor at Beaumont Leys was a working agricultural estate, managed by a bailiff and a wood keeper, reflecting active use of woodland and farmland. A 1338 survey describes it as a dependent manor of the Hospitallers’ preceptory at Old Dalby, 11 miles away. The estate comprised a house, 220 acres of arable land, as well as meadows, pasture, and an apple orchard—amounting to about 960 acres in total. It likely operated primarily as a sheep farm.
Archaeological investigations have uncovered extensive earthworks and remains at the site, revealing evidence of a medieval fishpond used to support the manor's diet. Excavations have also unearthed the stone foundations of a substantial medieval building—probably the manor house—measuring approximately 8 meters wide and 15–20 meters long. This timber-framed structure featured a slate roof adorned with green-glazed ridge tiles, indicating a degree of wealth. The building stood on a shallow stone plinth, with a central hearth suggesting that part of it served as an open hall.
To Learn more about the Knights Hospitallers at Beaumont Leys Check out our vist blog by clicking here
Re-Creation of suggested Beaumont Leys Earthworks, detailing the Knights Hospitallers properties at their time here. Image Courtesy of British Archeology News Resource
STONNESBY (Stonesby) -
The 1388 Hospitaller Report by Brother Philip de Thame Notes about Stonnesby
Est ibidem unum mesuagium ij. carucate terre, redditus et servitia tenentium; et dimittuntur ad firmam magistro Willelmo de Whiteby, procuratori generali hospitalis in curia Christianitatis, ad terminum vite, reddendo inde per annum . . . x marcas.
Tempore fratris Thome Larcher.
English Translation
“There is there one messuage (house with its buildings) and two carucates of land, with the rents and services of the tenants; and they are let to farm to Master William de Whiteby, General Procurator of the Hospital in the Court of Christendom, for the term of his life, paying from it 10 marks per year.
In the time of Brother Thomas Larcher.”
Messuage: A medieval term for a house with outbuildings and adjacent land.
Carucate: Roughly the amount of land a plough team could till in a year — about 120 acres per carucate, depending on local custom.
Rents and services of the tenants: Income from peasants or villeins who farmed the land; could include money, produce, or labor.
Let to farm: The Hospitallers were leasing the estate to William de Whiteby, who acted as General Procurator (a high officer managing the Order’s affairs in Europe, referred to as “curia Christianitatis”). The lease was for life, meaning he had the right to all the profits during his lifetime in return for a fixed payment (10 marks/year).
Brother Thomas Larcher: The preceptor or head of the Hospitaller estate at the time — his tenure provides a chronological anchor.
MELTON MOWBRAY -
BUCKMINSTER - St John the Baptist church
The village of Buckminster in northeast Leicestershire has a long and layered religious history, including a significant association with the Knights Hospitaller, also known as the Order of St John of Jerusalem.
In 1237, the advowson (the right to appoint the parish priest) of St John the Baptist Church in Buckminster was granted to the Hospitaller commandery at Dalby, a regional estate of the military-religious order. The Knights Hospitallers were not only dedicated to protecting Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land but also maintained a network of preceptories (or commanderies) across England to support their mission through agricultural and ecclesiastical revenues.
Although Buckminster did not house a preceptory itself, its church and associated tithes were important sources of income for Dalby Preceptory. From there, the Order administered many such holdings across Leicestershire, using them to fund their charitable and military activities.
The church of St John the Baptist, parts of which date from the 12th century, likely saw changes and upkeep influenced by the order’s tenure. The Knights Hospitaller exercised spiritual and financial authority over the parish for over 150 years, shaping its clerical leadership and religious life.
However, by 1388, the advowson of Buckminster had passed from the Hospitallers to the Prior and Convent of Kirby Bellars, a house of Augustinian canons located to the southwest. This transfer marked the end of the Hospitallers’ direct connection to Buckminster, though their earlier influence would have left a lasting legacy on the village's ecclesiastical life.
Today, St John the Baptist Church still stands at the heart of Buckminster — a quiet testament to its medieval connection with one of the most powerful military orders in Europe
WARTNABY - St Michaels Church
In the 13th century, Wartnaby was part of the Soke of Rothley — a group of manors and lands centred around Rothley Temple, a preceptory (or local headquarters) of the Knights Templar. The Templars had been granted the Manor of Rothley in 1231 by King Henry III, along with the right to appoint clergy to local churches, including those in villages like Wartnaby.
Though there is no evidence of a Templar building in Wartnaby itself, the village’s medieval church, originally a chapel of ease, would have fallen under the Templars’ spiritual and administrative influence. The villagers likely paid tithes to Rothley, and the Templars would have appointed the local clergy.
From Templars to Hospitallers
After the suppression of the Knights Templar in 1312, their lands — including Rothley and its dependencies like Wartnaby — passed to the Knights Hospitaller. They continued to manage these lands for over two centuries, although by the 14th century Rothley had become part of a combined preceptory with Dalby and Heather, with Dalby as the administrative centre.
Throughout this time, Wartnaby remained part of the estate, contributing rent, produce, or service to the order’s wider network. These funds supported the Hospitallers’ religious and military efforts across Europe and the Holy Land.
Legacy
The Knights Hospitaller held Wartnaby until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540, when their estates were seized by the Crown and sold off. Today, little visible evidence remains of their presence, but the village's medieval church and centuries-old layout still echo its past under these powerful knightly orders.
STOKE DRY (DRI-STOKE) - Church St Andrews
The Hospitallers held the advowson of St Andrew’s church at Stoke Dry (granted in 1220) and owned associated lands/tenements (a grange/farm and parcels linked into the neighbouring Lyddington/Lyddington-Preceptory estate).
The earliest explicit record: the advowson (right to present the parish priest of St Andrew, Stoke Dry) was granted to the Hospitallers in 1220 by Gilbert de Hauville.
The Hospitallers’ holdings at Stoke Dry appear to have been ecclesiastical rights (the advowson) together with agricultural land and a grange or farm buildings used to produce rents/income. Local histories describe a “grange” or farmstead in the village that “probably belonged to the Knights Hospitallers.
Today the Church of St Andrews stands as a testiment to the Knights Hospitallers in Rutland, with numberous medieval wall paintings still existing, including a depiction of the crucifixtion of St Andrew, and also St Edmund, as well as St Christopher, as well as two original Norman shafts remain either side of the chancel arch, with intricat Norman carvings, with heavily interwoven designs and carvings, including a carving of somebody ringing a church bell, phonenix, cats and other symbols.
KNIGHT HOSPITALLER FIGURES AT LEICESTERSHIRE
Leicestershire & the Hospitallers: Learn Who Shared Their Chapter of History Here
Knights Hospitallers in Leicestershire
-
Robert of Sutton
-
Robert Cort - Preceptor Dalby1326
-
John Larcher Preceptor Dalby 1338
-
John Dingley Preceptor Dalby 1363 and 1371
-
John Langstrothyr Preceptor 1448
-
Thomas Newport Preceptor Dalby 1503, died 1522
-
Henry Babbington Preceptor 1525
-
Sir John Babyngton - Knight of the Preceptory of Dalby - 1526 (Died 1534)
Sir Thomas Newport - Commander Dalby & Heather - -
Henry Pole - Commander Dalby & Heather - 1535
Knight Hospitaller Preceptors of Rothley
-
John Dingley, c.1371.
-
John Langstrothyr, c.1448.
-
Thomas Newport, died 1522.
-
Henry Babbington, c.1525.
-
John Babbington, died 1534.
-
Sir Henry Poole, 1535/6 – 1540