THE TEMPLARS
IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
The Knights Templar in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire holds a rich yet often overlooked connection to the legendary Knights Templar. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the Templars established a number of preceptories (monastic estates) in the county, These sites served both as spiritual centres and as operational hubs for the Templars’ extensive landholdings, helping to fund their crusading efforts in the Holy Land. Today, traces of their presence remain in place names and local lore, offering a fascinating glimpse into a secretive and influential medieval order.
BULSTRODE
Bulstrode, near Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire, was an ancient medieval estate set within a wooded landscape of scattered farms, manors and heathland around Chalfont Heath. In the Middle Ages the original manor appears to have been divided into two parts: Bulstrode manor itself, associated with a medieval deer park, and Temple Bulstrode, the western portion of the estate, which became linked with the Knights Templar.
Temple Bulstrode was held by the Knights Templar by the thirteenth century and is believed to have been centred on the moated site now known as Moat Farm, on Hedgerley Lane. The remains of an early fourteenth-century building survive within the moat, and the site is now protected as a Scheduled Monument. This suggests that the Templars’ holding here was not simply farmland, but included a substantial manorial or administrative building within a defended or enclosed moated complex.
The exact donor of Bulstrode to the Templars is uncertain. The surviving records are brief, and the history of the manor is described as confused. What is clear is that the Templars held a small estate in Chalfont St Peter as part of their manor in Hedgerley from the early thirteenth century. Their possessions in Buckinghamshire also included lands at Radnage and High Wycombe.
The preceptory at Bulstrode is known to have existed by 1276, when Brother John, described as preceptor, was accused of taking a bribe of half a mark from a robber in order to let him go free. This is one of the few surviving references to an individual Templar connected with the site, but it confirms that Bulstrode had an organised Templar presence and a local officer in charge.
After the suppression of the Knights Templar in the early fourteenth century, their lands passed to the Knights Hospitaller. An inquisition of 1330 recorded that the manor of Bulstrode had once belonged to the Templars and had then passed to the Hospitallers. It was again listed among Hospitaller lands in 1338, although Bulstrode did not become a Hospitaller commandery. Instead, the manor was leased out on their behalf and valued at 75 marks per year.
At the Dissolution, the former Templar and Hospitaller lands in Chalfont St Peter and Hedgerley passed out of religious ownership and were conveyed to Robert Drury. Today, the most important surviving reminder of the medieval estate is the moated site at Moat Farm, believed to mark the centre of Temple Bulstrode. Although little now remains above ground, the protected earthworks and buried archaeology preserve the memory of a once-important Templar manor in the Buckinghamshire landscape.
Temple Bulstrode therefore offers a rare glimpse into the quieter, rural side of the military orders in medieval England. Away from the crusading frontiers of the Holy Land, estates such as Bulstrode provided income, agricultural produce and local administration, helping to support the wider religious and military work of the Templars and, later, the Hospitallers.
RADNAGE - St. Mary the Virgin Church
The Knights Templar and Radnage, Buckinghamshire
The village of Radnage in Buckinghamshire holds a remarkable connection to the Knights Templar, the famed medieval military order. In 1214–1215, King John granted the manor of Radnage to the Templars of London. This early acquisition suggests it preceded the foundation of their Preceptory at Bulstrode, highlighting Radnage’s significance in the Templars’ local holdings.
Alongside the manor, the Templars held the advowson of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, located further within the village. The parish church, dating from the late 12th or early 13th century, is widely believed to have been constructed during the Templar period and remains the principal medieval structure reflecting their presence in Radnage.
The first recorded rector of the church, Richard Poleworth, was appointed in 1231 by the Knights Templar under their advowson. He served until 1269, when the Templars transferred the advowson to the Knights Hospitallers. The Hospitallers presented William de Fulham in 1269 and continued to present a further 31 rectors over the next three centuries. The last rector presented by the Hospitallers, also known as the Order of St John, was William Grate in 1558.
While detailed records of the manor’s acreage are lacking, the size of Radnage Manor, combined with the construction of the church, indicates the Templars’ substantial investment in the area. Today, the Manor of Radnage survives at Radnage Bottom Farm, preserving a tangible link to this medieval chapter of the village’s history.
The Church of St Mary the Virgin also retains many of its original medieval wall paintings, offering a rare glimpse into its historic past. Among these is a partially covered depiction of St Christopher, which was obscured during the Reformation; only the Christ Child, blessing with the right hand, the orb in the left, and the saint’s head remain. Additionally, two worn crosses on the north tower walls may date from the Templars’ time or could be consecration crosses, further hinting at the church’s deep-rooted medieval heritage.
Radnage’s surviving landmarks—both manor and church—stand as enduring testaments to the Knights Templar’s and Knights Hospitallers’ presence, offering a fascinating window into Buckinghamshire’s medieval history.
CHALFONT ST. PETER
TEMPLE WYCOMBE
STONY STRATFORD
The Knights Templar at Stony Stratford: Calverton, Wolverton and the Divided Medieval Town
Stony Stratford, now part of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, developed beside the ancient Watling Street and the important crossing of the River Great Ouse. In the Middle Ages, however, it was not a single unified town in the way we might imagine today. It was divided between two manorial lordships: the western side belonged to Calverton, while the eastern side belonged to Wolverton. This division is important when trying to understand the property held there by the Knights Templar.
The Victoria County History notes that the west side of Stony Stratford lay in Calverton, while the east side lay in Wolverton. The Buckinghamshire Historic Town Assessment also explains that medieval records for Stony Stratford often appear under the principal manors of Calverton for West Stratford and Wolverton for East Stratford.
The Calverton Side: Templar Rents in West Stony Stratford
One of the clearest early records of Templar property in the area comes from a charter of Hugh de Bolebec, dating to about c. 1142–64. This charter confirmed the earlier gift of his father, Walter de Bolebec, to “God, St Mary, and the Knights of the Temple of Solomon of Jerusalem.”
The gift consisted of 40 shillings of annual rent in the vill of Calverton. A later note in the manuscript identifies the holding as “Stone in Stratford”, showing that these Calverton rents were associated with the Stony Stratford settlement.
The named tenants paying the rent were:
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Simon Panifex, meaning Simon the baker — 6 shillings
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Richard de Cesta / de Coste — 2 shillings
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Ailmar son of Wluiat / Wahuat — 6 shillings
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Estan / Ethastan, his brother — 6 shillings
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Atsor — 6 shillings
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Robert son of Thochi / Toki — 6 shillings
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Richard the priest — 6 pence
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Nigel son of Ailmar the reeve — 4 shillings
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Luffric / Leofric the White — 18 pence
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Edmar — 2 shillings
This was not a Templar preceptory or commandery. It was a rental estate: the Templars received income from tenants occupying land, meadow, pasture and associated rights. The charter describes the holding as free from secular customs and refers to rights in land, herbage, meadows and pastures.
Because this grant was described under Calverton, and later associated with “Stone in Stratford,” it most likely belonged to the western or Calverton side of Stony Stratford.
The Wolverton Side: A Messuage and Acre from Hamo son of Meinfelin
The Templars also held property on the Wolverton side of Stony Stratford. A charter of Hamo son of Meinfelin, dated before 1184–5, granted to the Templars:
“that acre of land which Hugh son of Azo held, with a messuage and all its appurtenances.”
A messuage usually meant a dwelling-house or house-plot, often with yard, garden, croft, outbuildings and associated rights. This means the Templars held not only a rent, but an identifiable property: one acre of land with a house-plot, formerly occupied by Hugh son of Azo.
The 1185 Templar inquest also records a small rent at Stratford:
“At Stratford, from the gift of Hamo Meinfelin, 12 pence, which Simon son of Leofric pays.”
This may relate to the same messuage and acre, or to a closely connected holding. The Buckinghamshire Historic Town Assessment notes that planned settlement on the Wolverton side of Stony Stratford is associated with Hamo son of Meinfelin, and that plots there were given to the Templars and others.
Where Was the Templar Messuage?
The exact location of the Templar messuage cannot yet be fixed to a modern street address. However, the evidence strongly suggests that it lay on the Wolverton or East Stratford side of the medieval town.
The most likely area is the east side of Stony Stratford High Street, within the historic Wolverton End area. Medieval burgage-type plots here appear to have run back from the High Street towards what is now Vicarage Road, formerly a rear lane or back lane. This pattern fits well with the description of a messuage with one acre of land.
A cautious modern description would therefore be:
The Templar messuage was probably situated on the east side of Stony Stratford High Street, in the Wolverton End part of the town, on or near one of the long medieval plots running back towards Vicarage Road.
It should not be confused with the medieval Hospital of St John by the old bridge, which was a separate charitable hospital and is not clearly proven to have been a Templar or Hospitaller foundation.
Later Descent to the Hospitallers
After the suppression of the Knights Templar in the early fourteenth century, most of their English estates eventually passed to the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem. The former Templar lands and rents at Stony Stratford, Calverton and Wolverton would therefore probably have become Hospitaller property, unless any particular holding had already been alienated or lost.
A royal account from 1308–1310, after the arrest of the Templars, records former Templar revenues from Stony Stratford, Calverton and Beachampton. It includes rents of assise from tenants in these towns, showing that the Templar estate in this area was still producing income at the beginning of the fourteenth century.
Conclusion
The Knights Templar did not have a known preceptory at Stony Stratford. Instead, they held rents and small property interests on both sides of the divided medieval town.
On the Calverton side, they received a substantial 40 shillings of rent from named tenants including Simon the baker, Richard de Cesta, Ailmar son of Wluiat, Estan his brother, Atsor, Robert son of Toki, Richard the priest, Nigel son of Ailmar the reeve, Leofric the White and Edmar.
On the Wolverton side, they held a more physical property: one acre of land with a messuage, granted by Hamo son of Meinfelin and formerly held by Hugh son of Azo. Its most likely location was in East Stony Stratford / Wolverton End, probably among the long medieval plots running from the east side of the High Street back towards Vicarage Road.
Together, these records show that the Templars were present at Stony Stratford not as resident warrior-monks, but as medieval landholders, receiving rent from a developing roadside town on one of England’s most important routes.
HEDGERLEY
MAIDS MORETON MANOR
GERRARDS CROSS
AKELEY -
