THE KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS

IN OXFORDSHIRE

BROADWELL

CLANFIELD

GOSFORD

MERTON

SANDFORD ON THAMES -

Sandford is situated on the Thames, just to the South of Oxford. The Preceptory there was the second largest houses of the order, outside of London. Thomas de Sandford gifted the lands at Sandford to the Templars circa 1239-1240 (Who himself later became a Templar) There remains part og the 13th Century Chapel at the location, which was used as a barn at Temple Farm, along with some other conventional buildings incorporated into the farm, which is now a Hotel, between the Church of St Andrew and the river.

Windows & fragments of stone carvings have been preserved by being built into the wall, and over the doorway of what would have been the chapel is the cross of the Templars.

The Knights Hospitaller at Sandford-on-Thames

After the suppression of the Knights Templar in 1312, the lands and mills at Sandford-on-Thames were transferred to the Knights Hospitaller. By the 1320s, the Hospitallers were officially managing the estate, collecting rents, and operating the watermills that had been central to the local economy. They retained control of Sandford for over two centuries, until the dissolution of their order in England under Henry VIII in 1540.

This transition marked a significant chapter in Sandford’s medieval history, linking the village to the wider story of England’s religious and military orders.

The hospitallers would have held the following at Sandford:

300 acres of arable land, at the price of 6d. per acre
28 acres of meadow, at the price of 3s. per acre
two water-mills, which are worth … 100s (see below for watermills info)

Medieval Mills at Sandford-on-Thames

Sandford-on-Thames is home to two historic watermills, once owned by the Knights Templar and later by the Knights Hospitaller. The first mill, near Sandford Lock, was established by the Templars in the late 13th century and was integral to local grain processing and navigation along the Thames. Following the suppression of the Templars in 1312, the property passed to the Hospitallers, who managed the mills and surrounding lands until the dissolution of their order in 1540.

Today, remnants of these mills can still be seen along the River Thames, offering a tangible link to Sandford’s medieval past. The site near Sandford Lock, in particular, is accessible via the Thames Path National Trail, providing a scenic route for exploring the village’s rich history.

TEMPLE COWLEY - (Templecouelee)

Temple Cowley: From Templar Preceptory to Hospitaller Estate

On the eastern side of Oxford lies Temple Cowley, once a thriving medieval preceptory of the Knights Templar. Founded in 1136, the estate began with four hides of land (around 480 acres) gifted by Queen Matilda, wife of King Stephen.

Over the next century, the Templars expanded their holdings. By the 14th century, the estate included two watermills, a fishery, and a church at Sibford (granted to them in 1153 by Agnes of Sibford). In 1141, the Empress Matilda also granted the knights extensive pasture rights in Shotover Forest—today known as Akemere Wood—stretching beyond the village of Horsepath and covering land on the slopes of Otmoor. This amounted to a substantial estate of at least 880 acres.

Temple Cowley flourished as a busy settlement, but its importance declined after Thomas de Sandford’s gift of Sandford-on-Thames to the Templars in 1239. The preceptory gradually fell into disuse, eventually being reduced to a smaller administrative unit known as a camera.

When the Knights Templar were suppressed in 1312, their Cowley lands briefly passed to Queen Margaret, before being transferred to the Knights Hospitaller, who continued to hold them until the Dissolution in the 16th century.

Today, little survives of the medieval estate, but Temple Cowley’s name still recalls its fascinating Templar and Hospitaller past—linking modern Oxford to one of the most powerful religious orders of the Middle Ages.

The Lands at Templecoulee, in the 1188 report of Brother Philip de Thame, Knight Templar included the following:

“Est ibidem unum gardinum et valet .”
→ There is there one garden,
“Item ij. Columbaria que valent”
→ Also, two dovecotes,
“Item xj. acre prati, pretium acre iij s., et summa”
→ Also, eleven acres of meadow, the price per acre 3 shillings,
“Et pastura separalis, que valet”
→ And separate pasture,
“Item CO. acre terre, pretium acre xij d.”
→ Also, 100 acres of land, the price per acre 12 pence.
“Item apud Westbury in Cliercliecouelee iiij acre vj d.”
→ Also, at Westbury in Cliercliecouelee, 4 acres, 6 pence.
“Item j. molendinum aquaticum quod valet”
→ Also, one water mill,
“Item vij. acre prati, pretium acre ijs.”
→ Also, 7 acres of meadow, the price per acre 2 shillings.
“Item apud Garsyngdon et Bokenesfeld sunt Ix acre vj d.”
→ Also, at Garsington and Bokenesfield there are 9 acres, 6 pence.
“Et perquisita curiarum valent ....Et de redditu assiso in eisdem placeis”
→ And the court fines … and from the assessed rent in the same places.
“Item opera et consuetudines Nativorum valent, XX s, . yj s. xxiii s. . xiij s. iiij d.”
→ Also, the labor and customary services of the tenants are worth 20 shillings, 6 shillings, 33 shillings, and 13 shillings 4 pence.
“Summa x li.”
→ Total 10 pounds.
“acre terre : pretium Summa xl s. . XXX s. Summa xviij s. acre terre, pre- . XXX s. XV s. vj li. xij s. ob. iiij li. xj s. ob.”
→ [This section totals land value in various parcels:]
- Acre of land: price… total 40 shillings, 30 shillings, 18 shillings, acres at 30 shillings, 15 shillings, 6 pounds 12 shillings and 4 pounds 11 shillings.

WESTCOTT

HORSPATH

SIBFORD FERRIS/GOWER

BURFORD

GINGES

LITTLEMORE

MESEY HAMPTON - St Marys Church

SIDDINGTON - St Peters Church

SOUTHROP - St Peters Church

BAUNTON -

HAMPNETT