THE KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS

IN WORCESTERSHIRE

ELDERSFIELD

The Knights Hospitallers at Eldersfield, Worcestershire

Eldersfield, near Pendock on the south-western edge of Worcestershire, was not a Hospitaller preceptory, but it did form part of the Order’s wider landed economy. The key recorded grant came in 1189, when King Richard I granted the Knights Hospitallers the waste woods at Pendock and Eldersfield. This was a royal gift, and it gave the Order access to a valuable rural resource rather than a manor-house or resident commandery.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, “waste” did not mean worthless land. It usually referred to uncultivated or marginal ground: woodland, rough pasture, scrub, common-edge land, and areas suitable for timber, grazing, fuel, pannage for pigs, and gradual clearance. For a military-religious order dependent on rents, produce and resources, such land could provide steady income and practical supplies.

The Hospitallers probably held rights in the wooded landscape between Eldersfield and Pendock, rather than a compact estate centred on the village itself. There is no clear evidence for a Hospitaller chapel, preceptory, or resident community of brothers at Eldersfield. The holding was likely administered from another Hospitaller centre, with its value drawn from woodland management, rents, grazing rights, fuel, timber, or later agricultural improvement.

Medieval Eldersfield itself was a rural manor and parish landscape of farms, pasture, meadow and woodland. The old manorial focus lay close to St John the Baptist’s Church and Eldersfield Court. The present church preserves the strongest visible link to the medieval settlement: it has Norman origins, was rebuilt in the 13th and 14th centuries, and later gained its 15th-century spire.

Nothing identifiable survives today as a Hospitaller building at Eldersfield. However, the historic landscape can still be read around the church, Eldersfield Court, and the countryside stretching towards Pendock and Corse Lawn. Eldersfield Court itself is a later listed house, while a listed pigeoncote north-east of the court reflects the continuing manorial and agricultural character of the site.

The Hospitallers’ connection with Eldersfield should therefore be understood as a royal woodland grant, not a commandery. Their land here formed part of the Order’s broader network of income-producing estates: modest in appearance, but useful in supporting the religious, charitable and military work of the Hospital of St John.

Temple Laugherne

Temple Laugherne - Little is known about the Knights Templar’s presence at Temple Laugherne in Worcester. However, the “Temple” prefix in its name strongly suggests that the Templars once had a foothold here
Today, the site of Temple Laugherne has been replaced by a modern housing estate. However, an archaeological excavation carried out in September 2021 by Worcester Archaeology for Orion Heritage provided new insights into the Knights Templar’s presence in the area.

According to the findings, records from the Chartulary of Worcester Priory reveal that a manor in Laugherne was returned to the cathedral monks by Bishop Simon between 1125 and 1151. However, since both manors listed in the Domesday Book were still held at that time by William de Beauchamp, this was likely a fresh grant from the bishop’s demesne.

Historical records indicate that this property was later granted to William, son of Miles de Laugherne, before 1236, at a yearly rent of half a mark (6 shillings and 8 pence). His successor, another Miles, sold the manor in 1249 to the Master and brethren of the Knights Templar for £100. The precise location of Temple Laugherne Manor remains unknown, but it is generally believed to have been situated west of the site. Given this, it is likely that the modern site was once part of the medieval manor.

Despite disputed ownership in the late 13th century, the Templars retained possession of the land until their suppression in 1311, after which it was granted to the Knights Hospitaller. The Hospitallers held it until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, when it was sold in 1544 to Rich Goodyere and Will Gower.

The Knight Hospitaller report of 1188 Writes about Laugherne

Terre et tenementa in Lawern dimittuntur ad firmam domino Johanni de Hampton, militi, ad terminum vite, per cartam, tempore fratris Thome Larcher, pro per annum

LAWERN. Lands and tenements in Lawern are let to the farm of lord John de Hampton, knight, for life, by charter, in the time of brother Thomas Larcher, for per annum

Temple Broughton -

Hidden within the parish of Hanbury, near Broughton Green in Worcestershire, lies one of the more quietly intriguing estates associated with the medieval military orders: Temple Broughton. Though it never developed into one of the great preceptories, its name and surviving landscape clues preserve the memory of a manor once held by the Knights Templar, and later by the Knights Hospitaller.

The manor is recorded under several medieval forms, including Broghton and Temple Brocton. Its later name, Temple Broughton, reflects its connection with the Templars, who held the estate by the late 13th century.

Early Ownership of the Manor

Temple Broughton was probably originally part of the wider manor of Hanbury, which was recorded in Domesday in 1086. According to the Victoria County History, the estate later passed through several important secular hands. It was said to have been granted by Bishop Theulf of Worcester, who held office from 1115 to 1123, to Peverell de Beauchamp. In the reign of Henry II, it was held by Peter de Beauchamp.

The manor appears to have been forfeited by Walter de Beauchamp around 1170–71 and remained in royal hands until at least 1189. It was apparently restored by Richard I to Peter de Beauchamp, Walter’s uncle, but was later taken by King John and granted to Hugh Pantulf and Hamo Cocus.

It was through Sir Hugh Pantulf that Temple Broughton entered the possession of the Knights Templar.

The Templar Estate

By 1299, the Red Book of the Bishopric of Worcester recorded that the estate of Temple Broughton, then consisting of five hides, was held by the Knights Templar by the gift of Sir Hugh Pantulf.

A hide was not a fixed acreage, but a fiscal unit used to assess land. An estate of five hides was substantial, suggesting that Temple Broughton was not merely a small isolated holding, but a meaningful manorial estate with agricultural value.

The precise date of Sir Hugh Pantulf’s gift is not known, but it may have been made before 1237. In that year, Henry IIIgranted the Templars 2½ acres of clearing in the royal forest of Feckenham, land which had previously been held by William Fitz Robert for a rent of 6d per year. This grant was likely connected with the Templars’ existing interests around Hanbury and Temple Broughton.

The Templars’ holdings at Temple Broughton therefore appear to have included:

the manor or estate of Temple Broughton, assessed at five hides;
associated lands and tenant holdings;
at least 2½ acres of assart or clearing in Feckenham Forest;
and probably the normal buildings of a manorial estate, such as farm buildings, tenant tenements, barns and an administrative centre.

No surviving record yet clearly identifies a Templar chapel, mill or preceptory building at Temple Broughton. The evidence points instead to a rural manor or estate held as part of the wider Templar landholding network.

From Templars to Hospitallers

Following the suppression of the Knights Templar, their estates were transferred to the Knights Hospitaller in 1312. Temple Broughton appears to have passed with the rest of the Templar possessions and remained in Hospitaller hands until the Dissolution. VCH records that by the 16th century it was included within the Preceptory of Balsall in Warwickshire, rather than being valued separately.

This suggests that under the Hospitallers, Temple Broughton was treated as an outlying manor or estate attached to Balsall, rather than as an independent commandery.

The 1338 Hospitaller report gives a brief but important glimpse of how the property was managed. It states that certain lands and tenements at Broughton were leased to Roger de Belli for the term of his life, by deed of the Chapter, in the time of Brother Thomas Larcher, for an annual rent. The wording indicates that the Hospitallers were not necessarily farming the estate directly, but had leased at least part of it for a fixed yearly income.

In translation, the entry reads:

“Certain lands and tenements there are let to farm to Roger de Belli, for the term of his life, by deed of the Chapter, in the time of Brother Thomas Larcher, for [100 shillings] per year.”

This confirms the continued value of the estate after the Templar period and shows that Temple Broughton had become part of the Hospitallers’ income-producing estate network.

What Did They Own Here?

The surviving evidence does not provide a detailed inventory of Temple Broughton comparable to some other Templar or Hospitaller estates. However, the records allow us to identify the main elements with reasonable confidence.

The Templars and later Hospitallers held the manor of Temple Broughton, consisting of five hides, together with associated lands and tenements. The term “tenements” could include tenant houses, farmsteads, yards, crofts and other occupied holdings. The 1237 royal grant also added a small area of cleared land in Feckenham Forest.

What remains uncertain is the exact location of the medieval manor house or administrative centre. There may have been a grange or manorial farm, but no surviving documentary source yet securely identifies it.

Modern Landscape Clues

The most likely modern focus for the Templar and Hospitaller estate is the area around Temple Broughton Farm, Temple Barn, Harmans Hill and Broughton Green, near Hanbury.

Temple Broughton Farmhouse is now a Grade II listed building, preserving the name of the former manor. Nearby Temple Barn, on Harmans Hill, is also listed and preserves the same historic “Temple” association in the local landscape. Although the surviving buildings are later than the Templar period, their names point strongly to the former medieval estate.

Another important nearby site is Broughton Court, now known as Becknor Manor, which may represent a separate medieval estate or later manorial centre in the same landscape. This should be treated as a secondary site of interest, rather than automatically identified as the Templar manor itself.

The Temple Oak

One of the most striking survivals in the area is the ancient Temple Oak near Harmans Hill, Broughton Green. The tree is recorded as a pedunculate oak and is known locally and historically as the Temple Oak. Monumental Trees identifies it as standing near the public footpath by Harmans Hill. The Woodland Trust Ancient Tree Inventory records it as an ancient pollard with a girth of 9.50 metres, noting its historic name as “Temple Oak.”

The Temple Oak cannot be used as proof of a Templar building, nor can it be safely claimed that the tree was planted by the Templars. However, it is a valuable landscape clue. Ancient oaks often marked boundaries, routes, greens, meeting places or estate edges. In this case, its position within a landscape full of “Temple” names makes it highly suggestive as a memory marker of the former Templar estate.

Its significance lies not in proving a precise site, but in preserving the identity of Temple Broughton in the local landscape.

Conclusion

Temple Broughton was a genuine Templar manor in Worcestershire, held by the Knights Templar by the gift of Sir Hugh Pantulf and recorded in 1299 as an estate of five hides. It likely entered Templar hands before 1237, when Henry III granted the Order additional cleared land in Feckenham Forest.

After the suppression of the Templars, the manor passed to the Knights Hospitaller and was later administered as part of the Preceptory of Balsall. By the time of the 1338 Hospitaller report, lands and tenements at Broughton were being leased to Roger de Belli for life, showing that the estate continued to provide income to the Order.

Today, the strongest indicators of the medieval estate survive not as visible Templar ruins, but through the place-names and landscape around Temple Broughton Farm, Temple Barn, Harmans Hill, Broughton Green and the remarkable Temple Oak. Together they preserve the memory of a small but significant Templar and Hospitaller manor in the Worcestershire countryside.

The 800 Year Old Templar Oak nr Hangmans Hill Broughton - Possibly a boundary marker for the edge of the Templars Manor at Temple Broughton

The Knight Hospitaller report of 1188 Writes about BROUGHTON.

Queclam terre et tenementa ibidem dimittuntur ad firmam Rogero de Belu, ad terminum rite sue, per factum Capituli, tempore fratris Thome Larcher, pro per annum . . . . . c s

BROUGHTON. Some lands and tenements there are let to the farm of Roger of Belu, for the term of his right, by deed of the Chapter, in the time of brother Thom Larcher, for per annum

WORCESTER COMMANDERY -

Tucked just beyond the lively streets of modern-day Worcester lies a place steeped in centuries of history: Sidbury. At its heart stands the Commandery, a remarkable building that has witnessed nearly a thousand years of change.

Originally founded in 1085 by the Knights Hospitaller, the Commandery began life as a medieval monastic hospital. It offered shelter and hospitality to weary pilgrims and provided care and comfort to the sick. Overseen by a master, supported by chaplains and lay brothers, this hospital was one of many established by the Knights Hospitaller across Europe and beyond

Read More about the Commandery & The Knights Hospitallers on our blog site by clicking here