ThTHE TEMPLARS

IN LINCOLN

THE TEMPLARS IN LINCOLN

CITATION

Many thanks to the British History Online & 'Houses of Knights Templar', in A History of the County of York: Volume 3, ed. William Page( London, 1974), British History Online (https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/vol3/pp256-260)

THE PRECEPTORY OF WILLOUGHTON

This preceptory was founded by Roger de Builli during the reign of Stephen. Simon de Cancy was a benefactor of the same period, as were also William de Romara, earl of Lincoln, and his half-brother Ranulf earl of Chester; Hugh of Bayeux, Robert of Boulogne, Simon de Vere, Robert de Roose, Alan d'Avenel, all added something to the original endowment. It seems probable that the manor of Mere formed only a part of the endowment of this house, and did not support a separate preceptory; there was not even a camera there in 1338, at which date it merely occurs as a member of Willough ton.

THE PRECEPTORY OF EAGLE

The preceptory of Eagle is said to have been founded by King Stephen, who presented the manor on which it was built to the Templars.

This house also passed to the Hospitallers in 1312; a preceptor and a chaplain were living here in 1338. About twenty years later the administration of Eagle, Temple Bruer, and Beverley (Yorks.), were committed to one knight, John of Anlaby, by the general chapter of the order; but he was afterwards despoiled of this office by the prior of the hospital, whereupon he appealed to the pope. The causes of the difficulty are not stated in the petition made in 1359.

It seems to have been a common thing as time went on to put one commander or preceptor in charge of. two or three houses of the order; in 1415 Willoughton and Eagle are thus coupled together. Shortly before the dissolution the title, 'Bailiff of the Eagle,' seems to have been little more than a title of honour, not implying residence at the commandery, which was left in charge of a steward, or farmer.

The original endowment included the manor of Eagle, with the churches of Eagle, Swinderby, and Scarle; lands at Mere were either given at the same time or added afterwards

THE PRECEPTORY OF ASLACKBY

Aslackby Preceptory was a small but important medieval religious house of the Knights Templar, located in rural Lincolnshire. Founded in the mid-12th century, it played its part in supporting one of the most powerful religious-military orders of the Middle Ages before quietly fading into history during the upheavals of the 16th century.

A Templar foundation

The story of Aslackby begins in 1164, when Hubert de Rye granted the church of Aslackby and its chapel to the Knights Templar. He also funded the construction of a distinctive round chapel, a design inspired by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and typical of Templar sites. Further gifts followed: Margaret de Percy added land after relinquishing earlier tenancy rights, and in 1194 Hubert’s son-in-law, John le Mareschall, donated a capital messuage, strengthening the estate.

From the outset, Aslackby functioned as a preceptory (or commandery) — a local headquarters that managed land, collected income, recruited personnel, and sent money and supplies to the wider Templar network in England.

Life at the preceptory

At its height, Aslackby Preceptory was a compact, self-sufficient rural estate of around 235 acres. At its heart stood the chapel, dedicated to St John the Baptist, with living quarters for the preceptor and brethren close by. Surrounding farm buildings included barns for grain and legumes, stables for oxen and horses, sheepcotes, and even a dovecote.

A notable feature was a battlemented medieval tower, probably built in the early 13th century. Both defensive and residential in purpose, it formed part of an L-shaped complex with the chapel and domestic ranges and later became incorporated into what is now known as Temple Farmhouse.

Religious life followed the Templar rule. The brothers observed the monastic hours and celebrated mass in their own chapel, deliberately separate from the parish church of St James the Great across the way. This allowed the knights to worship apart from the local lay community.

Governance and daily management

The estate was overseen by a preceptor, a knight responsible for running the property, managing personnel, and forwarding income to the order’s English province. One known holder of the office was Robert de Sanford in 1237. Visiting dignitaries were accommodated on site, and a mill and gatehouse likely formed part of the wider complex.

After the fall of the Templars

When the Knights Templar were suppressed in 1312, Aslackby was seized by the Crown and later transferred to the Knights Hospitaller. Unlike some former Templar houses, it was never reorganised as an independent Hospitaller commandery. Instead, its lands and buildings were absorbed into the larger holdings of Temple Bruer.

By 1338, the Hospitallers controlled the main house, two carucates of land, and the church, leasing them to Henry de la Dale, secretary to the Earl of Lancaster. Religious duties continued: a preceptor acting as chaplain was still in place, and records show a chaplain appointed as late as 1514. Farming remained central, with land leased to local tenants and income generated through fixed rents.

The end of an era

Aslackby’s long religious life came to an end during the English Reformation, when Hospitaller estates were dissolved between 1540 and 1541. By then, Aslackby was firmly listed as part of Temple Bruer’s commandery, marking the final chapter in its institutional history.

Today, Aslackby Preceptory survives mostly through documents, earthworks, and fragments of buildings — but its story offers a fascinating glimpse into how the Knights Templar lived, worshipped, and managed their estates in medieval England.

GOULCEBY - All Saints Church

The Knights Templar and Hospitaller Lands at Goulceby (Golkesby), Lincolnshire

Medieval records reveal that the village of Goulceby (recorded as Golkesby or Goulceby) formed part of the rural estate network of the Knights Templar in Lincolnshire. Although not the site of a preceptory, Goulceby contributed to the Order’s agricultural and ecclesiastical revenues in the region.

Templar Holdings

The Templars held in Goulceby:

A messuage with a croft
Approximately 59 acres of arable land
3 acres of meadow
A share in the village mill
Income connected to the local church

The estate was leased at farm at the will of the preceptor and generated annual income in both cash and kind. Rents from tenants included payments of 12 pence for tofts (house plots), alongside customary obligations such as four hens and four days of labour service per year. Larger holdings were measured in bovates (oxgangs), reflecting the agricultural basis of the estate.

The Templars also derived ecclesiastical income. The priest of Golkesby rendered 30 shillings annually during his lifetime, and the Order received revenues from church rights and tithes. Such appropriated church income formed an important component of Templar finance.

In addition, a half share of the mill at Golkesby rendered 5 shillings annually. Milling rights were a valuable and dependable source of income in medieval rural society.

Transition to the Knights Hospitaller

Following the suppression of the Knights Templar in the early fourteenth century (1308–1312), their English estates were transferred to the Knights Hospitaller. The Hospitallers inherited the lands and rights at Goulceby and continued to administer them within their wider Lincolnshire bailiwick.

Records from the Hospitaller period confirm the continuation of rents, poultry payments, labour services, mill income, and church revenues. The structure of tenure — small customary holdings, life interests in church lands, and demesne management — remained consistent.

Significance

Goulceby illustrates the character of many Templar and Hospitaller rural properties in England. Rather than serving as fortified centres, such villages formed part of a dispersed economic network. Through modest but reliable agricultural rents, ecclesiastical income, and milling rights, these estates contributed to the financial resources that sustained the military-religious orders.

The surviving records provide valuable insight into the operation of monastic-military landholding in medieval Lincolnshire and the integration of local agrarian communities into international religious institutions.

THE PRECEPTORY OF SOUTH WITHAM

The Templars seem to have had a small house here, with the advowson of a moiety of the parish church, for it was taken into the king's hands in 1312 as part of the possessions of the order. It was then charged with one corrody. The Hospitallers probably could not afford to support a commandery here; they held in 1338 a messuage, 8 carucates, and a moiety of the parish church, which was farmed to Sir Richard de Ty, and eventually the

bailiwick was merged in the preceptory of Temple Bruer.

South Witham Preceptory: A Hidden Chapter of Templar History

Just north of the village of South Witham, in a quiet field known as Temple Hill, lies the site of one of England’s most intriguing Templar preceptories. Though nothing remains above ground today, this location holds a rare distinction — it is the only known Templar site in the country to have been fully excavated.

Founded before 1164, the South Witham Preceptory began as a modest commandery with around 240 acres of land. Despite its small size, the site has offered historians and archaeologists unparalleled insight into how a Templar preceptory developed over time.

A Preceptory in Three Phases

Excavations carried out between 1965 and 1967 revealed that the site evolved in three distinct building phases:

The Early Foundation
The first phase included a simple farmstead granted to the Templars, featuring a small aisled hall, two auxiliary buildings, and a watermill on the River Witham.
Expansion and Prestige
In the next stage, the original buildings were replaced by three large barns, similar in style to those found at Cressing Temple, as well as a gatehouse, guesthouse, chapel, and domestic quarters. This transformation reflects the Templars' growing wealth and strategic importance in the region.
Final Developments
In the final phase, the original watermill — likely no longer functional — was replaced by a windmill, and the early hall was substituted with a larger, more elaborate hall. Additional features such as fishponds and kilns for smelting iron and lead were also discovered, highlighting the site's self-sufficiency and industrial capacity.

Decline and Merger

By the time the Knights Hospitaller took over following the Templars’ dissolution in 1312, the buildings were reportedly in disrepair and likely uninhabitable. Eventually, the preceptory was merged with nearby Temple Bruer in the 14th century.

Both the Templars and Hospitallers also held the advowson (the right to appoint the parish priest) of the nearby 12th-century Church of St John the Baptist.

Unearthed Legacy

Among the most remarkable finds during the 1960s excavation was a lidless stone coffin, discovered in what would have been the chapel. Separately, a carved coffin lid — once repurposed as a footbridge over the River Witham — was recovered and matched to the tomb. Both now reside in the church.

The grave slab is particularly unique: it features a floriated cross, a style often linked to Templar graves. What sets it apart is the striking image of a long-haired male figure, carved as if emerging from or sitting upon the cross, as though it were part of his body — a powerful and mysterious symbol, echoing the spiritual and martial legacy of the Templars.

THE PRECEPTORY OF TEMPLE BRUER

Today, little remains above ground at Temple Bruer beyond the remarkable stone tower of its medieval church. Yet beneath the fields around it lies the archaeological evidence of one of the most important Knights Templar establishments in medieval England.

Founded in the middle of the twelfth century on the open heath south of Lincoln, Temple Bruer grew from a small Templar foundation into the administrative centre of a vast Lincolnshire estate. It possessed land, churches, pasture, agricultural buildings and other properties spread across the surrounding countryside, while the preceptory itself developed into a substantial religious and agricultural complex.

By the beginning of the fourteenth century Temple Bruer was one of the richest Templar houses in England.

The precise date on which the Templars first established themselves at Bruer is uncertain, but the foundation belongs to the period around 1150–1160, during the reign of King Henry II.

The principal founder was William of Ashby, lord of Ashby de la Launde. Historic England describes the foundation as having been established around 1150, while the Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record places the foundation charter in the period 1150–1160.

William granted the Templars land from his estate at Ashby and, importantly, land described as waste and heath – the open heathland from which the name Bruer derives. The Old French bruière means heath or heather.

William subsequently became associated personally with the Order and was received into the Templar fraternity. Before his death he increased his original endowment.

The foundation was therefore not simply a small religious house. From the beginning the Templars were acquiring a substantial tract of land which could be developed as an agricultural estate.

Other important benefactors followed, including:

Maud de Cauz
John d'Eyncourt
Robert of Everingham
William de Vescy
Gilbert de Ghent

Through such gifts, purchases and exchanges the estate expanded considerably.

Temple Bruer was very different from an ordinary medieval parish church or manor.

It became the centre of an extensive Templar estate, designed to generate agricultural income which could ultimately support the Order's wider activities, including its work in the Holy Land.

The Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record describes Temple Bruer as a great estate centre, where the Templars appear to have combined large blocks of land worked from specialised farmsteads with smaller holdings within the common fields.

The difficult heathland was gradually transformed.

The Templars employed servants and relied upon tenants to work their estates, while sheep farming became particularly important. The profits from agriculture – especially wool – provided a valuable source of income.

Temple Bruer eventually became the principal administrative centre for a considerable number of Templar properties in Lincolnshire.

By 1308, immediately before the suppression of the Order, it was described as the second wealthiest Templar preceptory in England, after London.

It is important to distinguish between the buildings at Temple Bruer and the wider estates administered from Temple Bruer.

The Templars did not simply own the land immediately surrounding their church. Temple Bruer became the centre of a network of properties.

Among the estates and ecclesiastical possessions associated with the preceptory were lands at:

Ashby de la Launde

The original foundation included land at Ashby, together with the parish church and pasture for sheep.

Ashby was particularly important because William of Ashby was the founder of the Temple Bruer establishment.

Rowston

The Templars held extensive interests at Rowston, including the church of Rowston.

As discussed elsewhere in the Templar records, the Order held substantial patronage rights in the church – including three of its four portions.

Rowston therefore became one of the important ecclesiastical and agricultural possessions attached to Temple Bruer.

Heckington

The Templars possessed land at Heckington, and later records show their estate included the grange of Holme in Heckington and an interest in half of the rectory.

Burton

Land at Burton was also associated with the endowment and subsequent expansion of Temple Bruer.

Wellingore

The preceptory held land at Wellingore.

Brauncewell

Land at Brauncewell formed another part of the estate.

North Kirkby

The Temple Bruer estate also included land at North Kirkby.

Bruer itself

The immediate Temple Bruer estate included the preceptory, its agricultural lands and later its own ecclesiastical establishment, including the free chapel of Bruer.

These possessions were not necessarily all acquired from one donor or at the same date. The estate was assembled over generations through gifts, grants, purchases, exchanges and other forms of acquisition.

By 1300, the scale of the Templar landholding in Lincolnshire was enormous. When William de la More became preceptor of Temple Bruer in 1300, the Templars are recorded as holding more than 10,000 acres in Lincolnshire.

One of the most valuable sources for understanding Temple Bruer is the great Inquest of Templar possessions carried out in 1185.

Unlike many of the smaller Templar establishments, Bruer is given its own separate section in the survey.

The importance of the place is demonstrated by the fact that the survey records 37 tenants occupying 34 crofts at Bruer.

These were not necessarily 37 people living inside the religious precinct itself. Rather, they represent the dependent agricultural community associated with the Templar manor.

The evidence is particularly valuable because it shows that the Templars had already begun transforming the heath into a productive estate only a few decades after their arrival.

The settlement associated with the preceptory appears to have supplied agricultural labour to the Templar estate.

Archaeological evidence has also identified a medieval settlement in the vicinity, although the exact relationship between this settlement and the preceptory remains a matter for interpretation.

At the heart of the preceptory stood a remarkable round church.

The circular nave followed the architectural tradition associated with the Templars and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The excavations carried out in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries revealed the foundations of a circular nave approximately 50 feet in diameter, together with its surrounding structures.

The church was not simply a small chapel.

Archaeological investigation has revealed:

a large circular nave
a surrounding ambulatory
a crypt
a chancel/presbytery
a pair of substantial towers
a later south chapel
a cemetery containing stone-lined graves
associated architectural and structural remains.

The surviving south tower stands for more than 16 metres and contains some of the finest surviving medieval fabric at the site.

Historic England describes the present tower as one of a pair which originally stood at the east end of the circular church, connected with the presbytery and later chapel.

The church was only one part of Temple Bruer.

A Templar preceptory was simultaneously:

a religious house, an administrative centre, a farm, a manorial estate and a centre for collecting revenue.

The archaeological evidence demonstrates that Temple Bruer contained a much larger complex of buildings than the single tower visible today.

The precinct included domestic and agricultural buildings, with the principal buildings arranged around an enclosed central area.

The surviving archaeological evidence indicates the presence of structures including:

the round church
towers
presbytery/chancel
chapel
cemetery
domestic buildings
halls
agricultural buildings
barns and stores
workshops and service buildings
entrances and boundary structures.

The precise arrangement of every building cannot be reconstructed with certainty, because much of the complex has disappeared beneath later agricultural buildings and the modern farm.

The Lincolnshire HER records that the present farm buildings cover much of the former domestic area of the preceptory, including the probable locations of barns and stables.

Archaeological investigation has also found medieval floors and building material, including evidence suggesting a carefully maintained building which may have been associated with dairying.

Temple Bruer was sufficiently important and substantial to possess a formidable entrance.

In 1306, Edward I granted the Templars permission to crenellate their great gate.

This is significant.

The licence demonstrates that the entrance was more than an ordinary farm gateway. It was considered a substantial structure which could be fortified.

The Templar precinct therefore possessed an element of defensive architecture, although this should not be confused with a conventional stone castle.

The licence came only two years before the arrest of the Templars.

The people associated with Temple Bruer fell into several different categories.

At the centre were the Templar brethren themselves – including knights and sergeants – together with priests and other members of the religious community.

Around them were servants, agricultural workers, craftsmen, tenants and other lay people whose work supported the estate.

The 1185 survey provides the earliest substantial glimpse of this wider community, with its 37 tenants occupying 34 crofts.

There is also unusually good evidence for people who received corrodies from the Templars.

A corrody was effectively a lifetime agreement providing food, clothing, money or other support in return for a donation or service.

Among those associated with Temple Bruer were:

William Rynel of South Witham

William received a lifetime allowance including daily food, an annual payment for necessities, clothing at Christmas and provision for his groom.

He also held a messuage and 24 acres of land and meadow at South Witham.

His groom was to serve in the house.

Walter de Thorp

Walter was a clerk who received a lifetime allowance of food and an annual payment.

Robert de Swinethorpe

Robert had given the Templars 120 marks and in return received a substantial lifetime pension and daily maintenance.

Henry Jubel

Henry received a lifetime allowance of food.

Robert de Carleton of Cranwell

Robert received food for himself and his groom, together with allowances for clothing and footwear.

Robert le Mareschal of Rowston

Robert received daily food, an annual clothing allowance and a stipend, and was required to serve as a free servant in the house while he remained capable of working.

These men are especially valuable evidence because they demonstrate that Temple Bruer was not occupied exclusively by knights.

It was a working community containing people who depended upon the preceptory for employment, food, pensions or lifetime maintenance.

The Templars of Temple Bruer

A number of Templar brethren can be associated with the preceptory.

Among the names recorded are:

Brother Geoffrey of Walecote – recorded in connection with Bruer in 1185–1190.

Brother William of Niweham – associated with Bruer in 1189–1190 and later Master of the Temple in England.

John Wolf (Lupus) – recorded as preceptor in the early thirteenth century.

Robert de Sutton/Screcton – recorded in 1239.

Brother Amadeus – master of Temple Bruer in the mid-thirteenth century.

Robert de Turville – preceptor in 1282.

Brian de Jay – recorded as preceptor in 1287.

Guido de Forcsla – recorded in 1290.

And finally:

William de la More

William de la More is perhaps the most famous Templar associated with Temple Bruer.

He became preceptor of the house in 1300 and was also Grand Prior of the Templars in England.

When the Crown finally moved against the English Templars, William de la More was at Temple Bruer.

On 10 January 1308, royal forces arrived to arrest the Templars.

William and his fellow brethren were taken into custody and subsequently imprisoned.

Temple Bruer had therefore become one of the principal stages in the final chapter of the English Templars.

The end came suddenly.

Following the arrest of the Templars in England in January 1308, Temple Bruer was seized by royal authority.

William de la More and other Templars were taken from the preceptory and imprisoned in Lincoln before being subjected to the proceedings against the Order.

The Templars were eventually suppressed in 1312.

Their estates did not simply disappear. They passed through a complicated period of royal administration before ultimately being transferred to the Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem.

Temple Bruer consequently entered a second chapter in its history.

Temple Bruer today

The surviving tower is now in the guardianship of Lincolnshire County Council and is freely accessible during daylight hours.

The site remains within a working agricultural landscape, and visitors are asked to respect the surrounding private farmland.

The principal monument is located at approximately TF 0085 5371, while the wider archaeological record extends across a considerably larger area.

The Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record identifies the preceptory as MLI60735, while the scheduled monument covering the remains of the preceptory church is 1007686.

(Click to Learn more About Temple Bruer)

TEMPLE BELWOOD - Linked with Ketby & Althorpe

Keadby is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086AD. The first mention of Keadby (as ‘Ketebi’) occurs in c.1184 [MLS9632]. At this time, it is likely that Keadby was part of the manor of Althorpe. The manor was granted to the Knights Templar, who established a monastic house at Temple Belwood, north of Belton in 1145, and constructed the first known drainage dyke, Nofdyke, running from Temple Belwood to the River Trench. The marshland and moorland of Keadby were granted to the order in 1182, and constructed a riverside quay on the Trent, between Amcotts and Keadby

ALTHORP - (St Oswald's Church)

HORKSTOW - Camera

GAINSBOROUGH

CAWKWELL

THORPE-IN-THE-FALLOWS - Church of St Peter

NORTH SCARLE - All Saints Church

After 1154, King Henry II granted manorial rights at North Scarle, Swinderby, Eagle Woodhouse and Eagle to the Knights Templar. By the time of the great Templar survey of 1185, however, it was Eagle that was producing recorded income for the Order; the precise financial relationship between the Templars and North Scarle itself requires care and should not be overstated.

North Scarle nevertheless formed part of the wider network of Templar lands centred upon their great Lincolnshire estates, particularly Temple Bruer.

The important distinction is that there is no surviving evidence that the Templars built All Saints’ Church. Their connection was through their rights and possessions in the manor and surrounding estate rather than a proven Templar foundation of the church.

All Saints’ has much older roots than the surviving building might suggest.

The church contains evidence of an earlier Norman church, including a large Norman capital preserved in the north aisle. Historic England dates elements of the present building to the 12th, 13th and 15th centuries, together with extensive 19th-century restoration.

The medieval church was destroyed by fire in 1342 and subsequently rebuilt, meaning that much of what stands today belongs to the later medieval rebuilding rather than the period of direct Templar control.

Among the surviving medieval features is the 13th-century north-aisle doorway, decorated with characteristic Early English dog-tooth and nailhead ornament. The west tower is also medieval, with a 13th-century lower structure and later additions.

Following the suppression of the Knights Templar in 1312, their Lincolnshire possessions passed ultimately to the Knights Hospitaller of St John.

The former Templar estates, including those around North Scarle and neighbouring Eagle, therefore became part of the much larger Hospitaller landholding in Lincolnshire.

Today All Saints’ Church remains an active parish church and is a Grade I listed building.

Its medieval fabric provides a fascinating physical link with the period in which the Knights Templar were acquiring estates across Lincolnshire. Yet the Templar story is principally preserved in the documentary history of the land and its medieval ownership, rather than in surviving Templar architecture.

The church that visitors see today is therefore the product of many centuries of rebuilding, but it stands within a village whose medieval manor once formed part of the extensive network of lands controlled by the Knights Templar in Lincolnshire.

WYKEHAM - Manor & Chapel

FLEET - St Marys Church & Lands

BOTOLPH BRIDGE (Botilbrigg) - Church & Lands

Today, Botolph Bridge lies within modern Peterborough, beside the River Nene. In the Middle Ages, however, Botulfbrige or Botilbrigg was a substantial rural settlement with its own church, manor, houses and agricultural land.

For a brief but important period, its church belonged to the Knights Templar.

The Templar church

The clearest evidence comes from the great Templar Inquest of 1185, which records:

“De Ecclesia de Botulfbrige nichil que est donum Roberti Gemeges.”

This translates as:

“From the church of Botulfbrige, nothing, which is the gift of Robert Gemeges.”

The entry tells us two important things.

First, the church of Botulfbrige had been given to the Knights Templar.

Secondly, the donor was Robert Gemeges, also found in variant forms such as Gimiges.

The word donum – “gift” – indicates that the church had entered the Templars' possessions by donation rather than purchase.

The word nichil – “nothing” – should not be understood as meaning that the Templars did not possess the church. Rather, the 1185 account records that no income was being received from the church at that time.

The reason is not stated. Its revenues may have been assigned elsewhere, subject to another arrangement, or simply produced no income for the particular account being recorded.

A medieval manor and village

The Templar church stood within a much larger medieval settlement.

Archaeological excavations at Botolph Bridge have revealed a manorial complex, houses, roads, agricultural plots and fields. The settlement is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 and therefore predates the Templar connection.

The manorial enclosure appears to have replaced earlier village plots around c.1200. During the later fourteenth century the manor was substantially redeveloped by the Drayton family, who constructed a large manorial farm with stone buildings arranged around a courtyard, including a farmhouse, dovecote and ancillary buildings.

This distinction is important: the 1185 evidence proves a Templar possession of the church, but it does not by itself prove that the Templars owned the entire manor of Botolph Bridge.

Who was Robert Gemeges?

Robert Gemeges was the benefactor responsible for placing the church in Templar hands.

The 1185 Inquest does not give us the date of his original donation, but it must have occurred before 1185.

The surviving entry therefore places the Templars' possession of Botolph Bridge firmly within the period of their expansion across eastern England during the twelfth century.

Did Templars live at Botolph Bridge?

The 1185 entry establishes the Templars' possession of the church, but it does not state that a Templar knight or preceptor was resident at Botolph Bridge.

This is an important distinction.

Unlike a Templar preceptory such as Temple Bruer, there is currently no evidence that Botolph Bridge was itself a Templar headquarters.

The church appears instead to have formed part of the Order's wider network of endowed ecclesiastical properties, generating – or potentially generating – income for the Templars.

The medieval church

The medieval church stood immediately beside the manorial complex.

Archaeological investigation has identified its position and demonstrated that it formed an important part of the medieval settlement.

The church survived long after the Templars had disappeared from England, but by the seventeenth century it had fallen into disrepair.

It was finally demolished in 1695.

Stone from the abandoned church was subsequently reused at nearby Holy Trinity Church, Orton Longueville, providing one of the few physical survivals of the lost medieval building.

The end of the Templars

Following the suppression of the Knights Templar in the early fourteenth century, their English possessions passed ultimately to the Knights Hospitaller.

The church at Botolph Bridge therefore belonged to the Templars during an important period of its medieval history, although the subsequent ownership of the manor and the precise fate of the Templars' ecclesiastical rights require separate documentary investigation.

Botolph Bridge today

Very little of medieval Botolph Bridge survives above ground.

The church was demolished in 1695 and the medieval manor buildings were eventually abandoned, with the later manorial complex disappearing by about 1600. Archaeological excavation has nevertheless revealed extensive remains of the medieval village and manor beneath the modern landscape.

The site is therefore best understood as a lost medieval settlement.

Beneath today's Peterborough lies the archaeological footprint of a village beside the River Nene, its church, manor, houses and fields – and, for at least part of the twelfth century, a church belonging to the Knights Templar.

GEDNEY - St Marys church

TEALBY - Bailiwick

GREAT LIMBER - Camera & Church St Peter's

CABOURNE - Manor & Church

Ashby de la Launde - Church St Hibolds

BURNHAM - Chapel (Connected to Althorpe)

SCAWBY - (Wind) Mill

(LOW) MARNHAM - St Wilifreds Church

The church of St Wilfrid's Church, Low Marnham offers a concise example of how a small English parish could be absorbed into the administrative and economic structures of the military orders. By the early 13th century, Marnham was already functioning as part of the estate system of the Knights Templar, and after their suppression it passed, with little interruption in practice, to the Knights Hospitaller.

This was not a matter of symbolic patronage. The church was appropriated, and its revenues—rather than merely its advowson—were integrated into the fiscal machinery of the order.

By 1300 the church had been in Templar hands for over a century, placing its acquisition plausibly in the later 12th century. The original donor is not recorded, but the pattern is entirely typical: a local lord grants a parish church, often with associated lands or tithes, in return for spiritual benefits and alignment with the order’s religious-military mission.

In 1300, papal confirmation (under Pope Boniface VIII) formalised what had long been the reality:

the church of Marnham was appropriated to the Templars
they held its revenues outright
a vicar would serve the cure of souls in their place

At this point, the Templars were not simply patrons—they were the effective economic proprietors of the parish.

The surviving record you supplied—part of a wider Templar survey—shows the kind of income structure attached to such churches. From Marnham itself:

an annual pension of 2 shillings was payable to the order

More revealing is the wider pattern of income listed alongside it, which reflects the sort of assets typically attached to a Templar ecclesiastical holding:

tithes of sheaves (decimae garbarum) from demesne land
fixed payments in shillings and marks
income derived from mills (often fractional shares: thirds, halves, or fixed rents)

This is important. A church like Marnham was not an isolated revenue stream—it sat within a network of agricultural and industrial income, especially mills, which were among the most reliable cash-generating assets in a rural economy.

In effect, the church’s value lay less in offerings than in its integration into a landed estate complex.

Suppression and transition

The suppression of the Templars (1308–1312) interrupted this arrangement only briefly.

At Marnham:

the church’s income was taken into royal custody
officials were appointed to collect its “fruits and obventions”
there was a short period of lay occupation or interference

But structurally, nothing fundamental changed.

By the 1320s, the church had passed—by papal and royal authority—to the Knights Hospitaller. By 1338 it is clearly recorded as:

appropriated to the Hospitallers
valued at 30 marks annually
leased out to a lay knight (Sir Robert de Silkeston)

This last point is particularly telling. The Hospitallers, like the Templars before them, were not directly managing every parish asset. Instead, they:

treated churches as revenue-producing units
leased them where convenient
retained ultimate control over income and patronage

Thus, while the institutional owner changed, the economic logic remained continuous.

By the mid-14th century, Marnham fits the familiar pattern of an appropriated church:

the order received the income
a secular vicar served the parish
local religious life continued largely unchanged

In 1359, the church is explicitly listed among those held by the Hospitallers but served by non-member clergy—standard practice across both orders.

One unresolved point is the identity of the original donor. The absence of a surviving name is not unusual, but the timeframe suggests:

a grant in the later 12th century
likely from a local lord of Marnham or a regional magnate
possibly tied to broader patterns of patronage linked to Nottinghamshire estates

While speculative, this fits closely with other documented Templar acquisitions in the region.

Continuity rather than rupture

The history of Low Marnham’s church is best understood not as two separate phases, but as a single institutional continuum:

Templar appropriation (late 12th century – 1312)
brief royal custody
Hospitaller control (1320s onward)

In both phases:

the church’s income was extracted into a wider system
the cure of souls was delegated
and the parish functioned as part of a trans-regional financial network

Conclusion

For those familiar with the operations of the military orders, Low Marnham presents a recognisable case:

a modest parish church
appropriated early
valued primarily for its income streams
smoothly transferred between orders after 1312

Its surviving records—especially the income listings—offer a rare, granular glimpse into how even small rural churches contributed to the larger economic infrastructure underpinning crusading orders.

STAINBY - Watermill

LUSBY - Watermill

BOTTESFORD

HARESBY

The Knights Templar and Their Holdings in Hareby, Lindsey

Medieval records show that Hareby, in the historic county of Lindsey, was associated with the Knights Templars

Templar-Era Landholdings

Four holdings in Hareby were historically part of Willoughton during the Templar period. The estate generated 16 pounds annually, granted for the life of Robert de Sylkeston, knight, through his brother Master Leonard, without rent. The village also included church income, with the church of Hareby contributing an annual pension of 2 shillings to the local ecclesiastical system. Other records show arable land (bovates), homesteads (tofts), and mills, often linked to noble donors, reflecting the Templars’ structured management of land and ecclesiastical assets.

Later History

After the suppression of the Templars in the early 14th century, their English estates were transferred to the Knights Hospitallers, remaining under their control until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. While Hareby was not a preceptory, it formed part of the wider Templar estate network in Lincolnshire, which included notable sites such as Temple Bruer and Willoughton.

Hareby Today

Hareby is now a rural village with farms and fields. Although no medieval Templar structures survive, historical records of land, mills, and church revenues highlight the village’s role within the Templars’ economic and ecclesiastical network in Lindsey.

DONINGTON

Templar Properties and Income At Donington/Dunetune

Medieval records show that the Templars held land in Donington in the form of bovates and tofts—small plots and homesteads sufficient for plough teams. For example, Walter, son of Godi, held a toft from the Templars, rendering 16 pence annually. Other nearby lands, granted by local nobles such as Roger Gross and Ralph Halselin, contributed labor, produce, and modest rents, all of which supported the order’s activities locally and abroad.

The Church of Donnington

Donington’s church also played an important role in the medieval landscape. The Church of Donnington in Holland was granted to the village for its own use under Ralph de Biry, to hold at will. It rendered 10 pounds annually, in addition to a pension of 20 marks, for the life of the holder, confirmed by charter in the time of Brother Leonard. This arrangement highlights how church and Templar estates coexisted, providing both spiritual and economic stability to the area.

Donington Today

Modern Donington has long since evolved from its medieval form. While no Templar buildings survive, the village layout, farmland, and the historical church site echo its past. These records remind us that the influence of the Knights Templar extended deep into rural England, where modest rents, labor services, and church holdings helped sustain one of the most powerful orders of the Middle Ages.

BILLINGBOROUGH

In the Billingborough entries of this estate list, the Templars’ interest is expressed as income rights (rents/dues) attached to specific parcels and to ecclesiastical property:

One bovate of land with a toft (house-plot), held for life
“In Bilingburc. Vxor Rogeri Burnel pro j. bouata in uita sua… xij.d. cum tofto suo.”
→ At Billingborough, the wife of Roger Burnel holds 1 bovate for her lifetime (granted by Roger Burnel), rendering 12 pence yearly, with her toft.
What this tells us: a defined unit of arable land (a bovate) and a dwelling-site (toft) producing a fixed cash rent.
The church of Billingborough: “nothing” rendered
“De Ecclesia de Bilingburch’ nichil que est de dono Rogeri Burnelli.”
→ From the church of Billingborough, nothing (is received here), since it is held by the gift of Roger Burnell.
What this tells us: the church was not generating income to this account at the time—its value or rights had been granted away/assigned so that “nothing” was payable into the Templars’ roll in this section.

Short takeaway

So, the Billingborough “property” recorded here is not a large manor, but a small package of rights: a life-held bovate with a toft paying 12d, plus a note that the church brings in no revenue to this listing because it lies under a separate grant by Roger Burnell.

FIRSBY

The Knights Templar held a number of ecclesiastical rights across Lincolnshire during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Among these was the church at Firsby, recorded in medieval estate surveys as forming part of the order’s endowed property.

The surviving entry notes that the church of Firsby was a gift of Jordan Foliot (donum Iordani Foliot). In the account roll, however, it is marked nichil — “nothing.” This does not mean the church lacked value, but rather that no income from it was being rendered into this particular account at that time. In medieval financial records, such entries often indicate that revenues had been appropriated elsewhere, assigned for specific uses, or temporarily exempted.

Where the Templars held churches, their interest commonly lay in the advowson (the right to present a priest) and sometimes in the appropriation of tithes, especially the greater tithes of grain. These ecclesiastical revenues supported the order’s religious life and contributed to its wider military and charitable obligations.

Following the suppression of the Templars in the early fourteenth century, their English properties — including ecclesiastical rights such as Firsby — were transferred to the Knights Hospitaller. Thus, although the Templars’ tenure was comparatively brief, documentary records preserve their connection to the church at Firsby as part of their broader Lincolnshire estate network.

NEWARK - Castle

Newark Castle and the Knights Templar

In the early 14th century, Newark Castle played a role in the imprisonment of members of the Knights Templar following the suppression of the order in 1307. Acting on the orders of Pope Clement V, Templars across England were arrested and held in secure royal castles, including Newark, while they awaited trial.

At Newark Castle, several Templar knights were confined in the castle’s dungeons. Despite their high status, they were held in harsh conditions. One of the underground cells—believed to have previously been an oubliette—was used to imprison them.

A particularly striking link to their presence survives today. Within the dungeon, certain cells contain carved symbols, graffiti, and small prayer niches that are traditionally attributed to seven Templar prisoners held at the castle. These markings provide a rare and tangible connection to the men who were once confined there.

There are also accounts suggesting that the imprisoned Templars managed to bribe their jailer, allowing them limited access to walk in the castle courtyard during the day before returning to their cells.

Together, these physical traces and historical accounts connect Newark Castle directly to the story of the Knights Templar’s downfall, offering a glimpse into their imprisonment in medieval England.

Dembleby - Toft

a toft in Dembelbi outside the village, towards the west;
also 1½ acres in the same village, namely five butts/strips of land which abut that toft on the south side;

ROWSTON - Church

OLD SOMERBY - Church

TEMPLAR FIGURES AT LINCOLN

Knights Templar at Lincoln

Preceptors of Willoughton

Thomas de Thurmeston, occurs 1338
Henry Crownhall, occurs 1414
John Sutton, occurs 1534
Grafton (John of) - Willoughton Template, arrested in January 1308, sent penance to the Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield
Henry the Marshall - Templar in Willoughton, arrested in January 1308, died before his interrogation
Robert of Spanthon (Spaunton,Sprouton,Stanton) - Templar in Willoughton, arrested in January 1308, penitence in the Diocese of Norwich

Preceptors or Bailiffs of Eagle

Robert Cort, occurs 1338.
John of Anlaby, occurs 1359
Henry Crownhall, occurs 1415
William Langstrother, occurs about 1454 - KNIGHT HOSPITALLER

Knight Hospitaller and eventually Prior of the order in England. Executed after the Battle of Tewkesbury, May 1471.

Sir William Langstrother, who had higher precedence in the Order in the 1450s and was complicit in the abduction/elopement of Jane Boys by Robert Langstrother, may have been their brother, or their uncle.

John Babington, died 1534 - KNIGHT HOSPITALLER

Sir John (d. by 1533), dedicated to Hospitaller Order. In 1509 he was preceptor of Yeaveley & Barrow and bef. 1522 he was Preceptor at Temple Bruer, later achieving the highest ranks of the Hospitaller

Bernewell (Robert of) - arrested in January 1308, penance in the diocese of Lincoln
Geoffrey Joliffe - arrested in January 1308, penance in the diocese of Lincoln
Halton (Robert of) - Templar in Eagle, arrested in January 1308, died on 29 December 1308
Henry de la Wole (Valey or Valicia or Wolde) - Templar at Eagle, arrested in January 1308, described as old and decrepit, abjured and was absolved
John du Vale(Vaal) - Templar in Eagle, arrested in January 1308, died on 15 July 1308
John of Saddlecombe - Templar at Eagle, arrested in January 1308, sent in penance to Swineshead Abbey in the diocese of Lincoln, died in early September 1311 without being absolved
John of Waddona(Waldona) - Prior of Eagle, arrested in January 1308, sent in penance to the diocese of Worcester
Langton (Robert of) - Templar in Eagle, (commander of Withley?) arrested in January 1308, died on 29 December 1308
Wolde (Robert of the) - Knight, Commander of Eagle, arrested in January 1308, penitence at Spalding Priory, Diocese of Lincoln - 592. Present in London in 1310

Preceptors or Commanders of Temple Bruer

John Wolf (Also de Lupus) occurs 1221
Robert de Screcton, or Sutton 1239
Fr. Amadeus 1260
Robert de Turville 1282
Brian de Jay 1287

Master of Scotland in 1292, present in the general chapter of Cyprus, who elected Jacques de Molay in 1292

Guido de Forcsla 1290
William de la More 1300
Robert Cort, occurs 1338
John Seyvill, occurs 1415
John Boswell, occurs 1493
Thomas Newport, occurs 1503
John Babington, occurs 1531, died 1534
Giles Russell, last commander, occurs 1539
Evesham (Randulph of) - Prior to Bruer, arrested in January 1308, penitence in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield
Eyglas (Eycle or Aykle or Eagle) (John of) - Templar in Bruer, arrested in January 1308, sent in penance to Reading Abbey
Richard of Brestsam (Bistelesham) - Templar in Bruer, arrested in January 1308, penance in the Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield
Alexander of Althon (Halton) - possibly died during the trial, was not in London in 1311 and was not a member of the Templars Absolved in July 1311
Brother Geoffrey of Walecote 1185-1190
Brother William of Niweham - 1189-1190 Preceptor (Later Master of the Temple 1200-1217)
Brother Morinus (Buried at Temple Bruer)

Preceptors or Commanders of Aslackby

John of Belasala(Balsall) - Templar at Aslackby, arrested in January 1308, sent in penance to the Diocese of Worcester
Newent (Richard of) - Templar of Aslackby, arrested in January 1308, penance at the Priory of Wallingford in the diocese of Salisbury
Richard of Newent - Templar of Aslackby, arrested in January 1308, penance at the Priory of Wallingford in the diocese of Salisbury

GENERAL LINCOLNSHIRE KNIGHTS

Brother Robertus (Robert) De Costentin 1154-1180
Brother Roger de Rolling - the master’s attorney in matters in Lincoln (Feet of Fines / Patent Roll references for 1280s)
Brother Roger (Son of Alexander) - Possibly Ashby de la Launde
Brother Rober of Denton - Possibly Temple Bruer
- Gifted Lands at Denton (A Toft he Possibly owned himself, along with a small agricultural unit (2 bovates = ¼ carucate) — perhaps formerly his own demesne or his family’s.
Brother Willelmus de Coleuille - Local English brother; Coleville could be a Lincolnshire/Bedfordshire toponym — active in London chapter

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