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THE TEMPLARS
IN Northamptonshire
THE TEMPLARS IN NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
BRADDEN -
Bradden and the Knights Templar
The Knights Templar held the manor of Bradden, however very little of the estate or their time here is is known. historical records confirm they held a manor in the village. The exact location is uncertain, but Bradden House, to the southwest, is widely believed to stand on the site of the original Hospitaller manor, and it retains elements of late medieval architecture.
Nearby earthworks offer further clues. A long rectangular area—partly enclosed by a 1.5-metre-high bank and an outer ditch—features an uneven interior and terracing, which may point to a former garden or manorial site. While the remains may belong to a different medieval manor, they could also mark the original location of the Hospitaller estate in Bradden.
HARPOLE - Messuage
The 1185 report of the Knights Templars reported on Harpole - From the alms of Alard of Saint-Hilaire. In Horepol, the wife of Hosse, for a messuage, 2 shillings - Harpole Northants.
One of the two manors in Harpole was held by the family of St. Hilary - The village grew round these two separate medieval manors, the Tanfield Manor and the St Hillery Manor (later known as the Vaux Manor)
As the Messuage was gifted by Alard of Saint-Hilaire, it is likley that the messuage was located within the Moated manor site of St Hillery Manor, which became the former Vaux Manor, now around Hill Close in Harpole
HORNINGHOLD
Inside St Peter’s Church is a 13th-century carved coffin lid believed to mark the grave of a Knights Templar cross-bearer. Discovered in 1951 and now displayed within the church, the stone features a distinctive cross associated with the Knights Templars. Although the knight’s identity is unknown, the burial confirms that someone connected to the Templars was laid to rest here over 700 years ago.
There is no documentary evidence that the Templars owned land in Horninghold itself. However, the village lies within reach of their major Leicestershire base at Rothley Preceptory, established in the early 13th century. From there, they managed estates across the county.
While Horninghold was not a known Templar manor, this burial slab gives the village a small but authentic link to the Knights Templars
Take a look around the Church at Horninghold via our youtube channel here - CLICK HERE
OGERSTAN -
Hidden beneath the quiet fields and woodlands of Huntingdonshire lies the faint memory of a vanished medieval village — Ogerstan, or Ogerston, once the administrative heart of the Knights Templar estates in this region. Though its name has faded from maps and local memory, Ogerstan once stood at the crossroads of medieval piety, feudal power, and the Templars’ remarkable network of landholdings.
The Bailiwick’s Holdings
From Ogerstan, the Templar bailiff managed an impressive network of estates across Huntingdonshire and Northamptonshire. Surviving records list the lands and tenancies held under its administration:
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At Stivecle (Great Stukeley) – By gift of the King of Scotland, William held one bovate, one virgate, and four acres of meadow for ten shillings and customary service.
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At Gedinges (Great and Little Gidding) – By gift of Warner Engaine, William held one toft and three acres for twelve pence.
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At Winewic (Winwick) – By gift of William Cardun, Lefwin Claudus held one toft and three acres for eighteen pence; the local priest held one acre by gift of Geoffrey son of Suan.
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At Clottone (Clopton) – By gift of William of Clotton, Robert and Richard held one virgate for six shillings.
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At Trapestune (Thrapston) – By gift of Robert, Arnald held five acres and a toft for three shillings.
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At Audewicle (Aldwinkle) – By gift of William de Musca, Ralph held one virgate for five shillings.
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At Benigfeld (Benefield) – By gift of Fulk de Lisurs, the smith held three acres for three shillings.
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At Pochebroc (Polebrook) – By gift of Robert the Knight, Robert of Grendon held one toft and three acres for twelve pence.
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At Gendelaie (Yardley Hastings) – By gift of the King of Scotland, Roger of Angaie held two virgates for eighteen pence.
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At Stupentune (Stibbington) – The same Roger held one virgate for twelve pence.
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At Hauertune (Orton Waterville) – By gift of Ralph de Amundaville, Bartholomew held three virgates for six shillings.
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At the other Hauertune (Orton Longueville) – By gift of Henry de Longaville, Richard held land (entry continued in later records).
Check Out our blog website for full information on the Knights Templar Bailiwick of Ogerstan, and their land holdings by clicking here
FINEDON - Church
HARDWICK - St Leonards Church
The 1185 report of the Knights Templars writes about St Leonards Church in Hardwick:
1164. Robert, by the grace of God, Bishop of Lincoln,
To all sons of the Holy Mother Church, greetings.
What is granted by devout and venerable religious persons to holy places, for the sake of eternal salvation, it is pious to confirm and strengthen, so that their memory is preserved more firmly.
Therefore, we, recognizing as valid the donation of Geoffrey of Sens which he made to the Knights of the Temple of Solomon (the Templars), namely the advowson (the right to appoint the priest) of the church of Hardwick, which he granted to them in perpetual alms, do confirm the said church with all its appurtenances to the same brothers of the Temple.
And by this present attestation, because this grant was made in our presence at Clarendon, we further confirm it, reserving the rights of the rector who at the time of this donation possessed the said church by right of incumbency.
[This means the bishop confirmed the donation but ensured that the current priest (rector) would not be displaced unjustly.]
Also, the rights of the Church of Lincoln shall remain untouched in the same [church] (blank in manuscript).
Witnesses:
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Gilbert, Bishop of London
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Robert, Archdeacon of Grenoble
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Robert de Burnham
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Brother Hosto [blank]
[Note: "Brother Hosto" is likely Osto of St. Omer, a known Templar who was at the Council of Clarendon in 1164.
GILSBOROUGH (Manor of Nortoft & Church)
RAVENSTHORPE - Church
SLIPTON - Manor & Church
The Knights Hospitallers held part of Slipton by the 13th century and acquired the advowson of the parish church in 1291, so they were landholders with ecclesiastical influence there.
By 1235 the Knights Hospitaller owned part of Slipton. The village had earlier been recorded in Domesday and the land was divided among local landholders; over time parcels passed to the Hospitallers.
The right to present the parish priest (advowson) for Slipton’s church (St John the Baptist) passed in the later medieval period. In 1291 Cirencester Abbey surrendered its advowson to the Hospital of St John in Northampton (i.e. the Hospitallers) in exchange for a small pension — so the Hospitallers had ecclesiastical influence in the village
TOWCESTER - Mill
Although Towcester never became the site of a Knights Templar preceptory, the medieval town played an important role within the Order's network of estates through one of its most valuable assets: its watermill.
In the twelfth century, the manor of Towcester passed from the Crown to Roger de Clare, Earl of Hertford. Following his succession to the earldom in 1152, Roger gifted Towcester Mill to the Knights Templar. Such donations were common among the Norman nobility, combining religious devotion with practical support for the Order's charitable and military work in the Holy Land. Rather than establishing a separate Templar house in the town, the mill became part of the wider Templar estate centred on the nearby preceptory at Bradden, from where it was administered.
The Templars did not own the manor of Towcester itself, nor were they Lords of the Manor. Their interest lay in the mill, one of the most profitable pieces of medieval infrastructure. In an age when almost every household depended upon a mill to grind grain into flour, ownership guaranteed a dependable source of income. Local tenants were often required to use their lord's mill, paying a fee or surrendering a proportion of their grain as payment. This steady revenue helped finance the Order's activities overseas while supporting the administration of its English estates.
Day-to-day management of Towcester Mill would have fallen to a resident miller and local labourers, overseen by estate officials from Bradden. While Templar knights almost certainly visited to inspect accounts and collect revenues, there is no evidence that a permanent community of brethren lived in Towcester itself.
Following the suppression of the Knights Templar in 1312, ownership of Towcester Mill passed, along with most former Templar property in England, to the Knights Hospitallers. The mill continued to serve the local community for centuries, remaining one of Towcester's most important industrial sites.
Today, the present Towcester Mill occupies the historic location of its medieval predecessor. Although the existing buildings date largely from the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the site has been associated with milling since at least the Domesday Book of 1086. Restored in recent decades, it remains one of the town's most recognisable historic landmarks and a tangible reminder of Towcester's connection with the Knights Templar. While no Templar buildings survive above ground, the mill's enduring presence, together with the nearby medieval landscape of Watling Street, the River Tove and St Lawrence's Church, preserves the setting in which the Order once derived income from one of medieval Towcester's most valuable assets.
FINEDON
Unlike some Northamptonshire villages where the Knights Templar established manors or preceptories, their connection with Finedon (known in the Middle Ages as Thingdon) centred upon the parish church. Although the Order never became Lords of the Manor, they acquired an important ecclesiastical right that linked them with the village for more than 150 years.
The Templars' association with Finedon began in 1164, when Geoffrey of Sens donated the advowson of the parish church to the Order. An advowson was the legal right to nominate the parish priest whenever the benefice became vacant and was considered a valuable asset in medieval England. The gift was formally confirmed by Robert de Chesney, Bishop of Lincoln, who issued a charter recognising Geoffrey's donation "in perpetual alms" while protecting the rights of the serving rector until the living next became vacant.
Why Geoffrey of Sens made this gift is not recorded, but such donations were common during the twelfth century. Noble families frequently granted churches, land or rents to the military orders as acts of religious devotion, to support the defence of the Holy Land, and in the hope of securing spiritual benefits for themselves and their families. By endowing the Knights Templar with the advowson, Geoffrey ensured that the income and patronage associated with the church would help sustain the Order's charitable and military mission overseas.
The Templars' interest in Finedon was therefore quite different from that at their larger estates. They did not own the manor, exercise manorial authority over the village, or maintain a resident community of knights. Instead, their rights were ecclesiastical. When the parish became vacant, the Order could nominate a new rector, subject to the bishop's institution. This gave the Templars influence within the spiritual life of the parish and, where applicable, access to revenues connected with the benefice.
There is no evidence that Templar knights lived permanently in Finedon. Day-to-day life at the church would have been centred on the parish rector, parishioners and local clergy. The Order's interests were probably managed by visiting brethren or clerks travelling from one of the Templars' larger regional preceptories, where records, revenues and appointments were administered on behalf of the English Province.
Following the suppression of the Knights Templar in 1312, their English possessions passed to the Knights Hospitallers, including ecclesiastical patronage such as the advowson at Finedon. The Hospitallers subsequently inherited the right to present rectors to the parish until the Dissolution of the religious orders in the sixteenth century.
Today, no Templar buildings survive in Finedon, and there is no evidence that the Order ever maintained a preceptory or manor house in the village. Their legacy instead survives through the parish church of St Mary the Virgin, which stands on the site of the medieval church whose advowson was granted in 1164. Although much of the present building dates from the fourteenth century and later, it remains the principal reminder of the Knights Templar's presence in Finedon. The medieval charter confirming Geoffrey of Sens' gift is the enduring record of a relationship that illustrates how the Order's influence often extended beyond castles and commanderies into the everyday religious life of England's parish churches.
STIBBINGTON - St John the Baptist Church
POLEBROOK
Polebrook’s connection with the Knights Templar is modest, but it is firmly grounded in one of the most important surviving records of the Order’s English estates: the 1185 Templar Inquest. This survey reveals that, rather than holding a manor or establishing a preceptory, the Templars possessed a small rural tenancy within the village.
At Polebrook (Pochebroc), the Templars held one toft and three acres of land, granted “by the gift of Robert the Knight.” The property was occupied by Robert of Grendon, who paid an annual rent of twelve pence, together with the customary feudal obligations attached to the holding.
Although the record is brief, it offers a valuable glimpse into the way the Templars built up their estate. The donor, “Robert the Knight,” is not otherwise identifiable, but he was almost certainly a local landholder. Such gifts were common in the twelfth century, when small parcels of land were frequently granted to the military orders as acts of devotion and support for their work in the Holy Land. In return, benefactors hoped for spiritual merit and remembrance in the prayers of the Order.
Polebrook was never a Templar administrative centre. There is no evidence of a preceptory, nor of any permanent community of brethren in the village. Instead, the holding formed part of a wider network of scattered properties managed through the Templars’ regional administration, likely based within their Bailiwick of Ogerstan. Day-to-day life at Polebrook would have continued under the care of its tenant, while Templar officials visited periodically to collect rents and oversee accounts.
In 1312, following the suppression of the Knights Templar, their English estates were transferred to the Knights Hospitallers. The Polebrook holding would have passed into this new administration, continuing to provide income within the Hospitallers’ estate system until the Dissolution in the sixteenth century.
Today, no physical remains can be directly linked to the Templars at Polebrook. The medieval settlement survives within the modern village, with All Saints’ Church continuing as its historic focal point. The exact location of the Templar toft is no longer known, though it would almost certainly have lain within the medieval core of the village, among the early tenements and closes that formed the heart of Polebrook’s settlement pattern.
THRAPSTONE
The medieval town of Thrapston (recorded in the 1185 Templar Inquest as Trapstone) formed part of the Knights Templar’s scattered estate network in Northamptonshire. Rather than holding the manor or establishing a preceptory, the Order possessed a small but clearly recorded rural tenancy within the settlement.
The 1185 survey records that at Thrapston, by the gift of an unidentified benefactor named Robert, a tenant called Arnald held one toft and five acres of land for an annual rent of three shillings and the usual feudal service. A toft was a house plot with its associated yard and buildings, indicating that this was a small occupied holding integrated into the existing village rather than a separate Templar site.
The original donor, “Robert,” cannot now be securely identified, but he was almost certainly a local landholder who granted part of his estate to the Knights Templar, as was common in the twelfth century. Such gifts were typically made for spiritual benefit, remembrance in prayer, and to support the Order’s work in the Holy Land.
There is no evidence that the Templars maintained a preceptory or resident brethren at Thrapston. The property would have been managed as part of a wider regional estate system, with rents collected periodically by visiting Templar officials, while day-to-day farming was carried out by the tenant.
Following the suppression of the Knights Templar in 1312, their English possessions passed to the Knights Hospitallers, and Thrapston’s holding would have been absorbed into that wider estate administration until the Dissolution in the sixteenth century.
Today, no physical remains of the Templar holding survive. The property would have lain within the medieval core of Thrapston, close to the developing settlement around the River Nene crossing and St James’ Church. Centuries of rebuilding and expansion mean its exact location is no longer identifiable, but it forms part of the hidden medieval landscape beneath the modern town.
WINWICK
Winwick (recorded in the 1185 Templar Inquest as Winewic) formed part of the Knights Templar’s scattered estate network in Northamptonshire. The evidence shows that, rather than holding a manor or establishing a preceptory, the Order possessed a small collection of rented properties within the village, integrated into the existing medieval landscape.
At Winwick, the Templars held two recorded interests. The first was a toft and three acres of land, granted by William Cardun, and occupied by a tenant named Lefwin the Claudus (the lame), who paid an annual rent of eighteen pence. The second was an acre of land held by the parish priest, granted by Geoffrey son of Suano, producing a rent of twelve pence. These entries reflect the typical structure of Templar rural holdings: small parcels of land and property leased to local tenants and clergy, generating steady income for the Order.
The original benefactors were local landholders whose names appear in the 1185 survey. Although the exact circumstances of their gifts are not recorded, such donations were commonly made in the twelfth century as acts of piety and support for the crusading movement. By granting small pieces of land or church-related income to the Templars, donors sought spiritual benefit and remembrance within the prayers of the Order.
Winwick was not a centre of Templar administration. There is no evidence of a resident community of brethren or any Templar buildings in the village. Instead, the property would have been managed remotely as part of a wider estate system, likely overseen through the regional administrative framework known in modern scholarship as the Ogerstan bailiwick. Day-to-day life remained in the hands of local tenants and parish clergy, while Templar officials visited periodically to collect rents and audit accounts.
Following the suppression of the Knights Templar in 1312, their English estates were transferred to the Knights Hospitallers. The Winwick holdings would have passed into this new administration and continued to generate income until the Dissolution of the monastic orders in the sixteenth century.
Today, no physical remains at Winwick can be directly associated with the Knights Templar. The medieval village survives within the modern rural landscape, with St Michael and All Angels Church at its centre. The surrounding ridge-and-furrow fields and historic settlement pattern preserve the agricultural setting in which the Templar tenants once lived and worked. The exact location of the Templar toft and acres is no longer identifiable, but it would have lain within or immediately adjacent to the medieval village core.
Winwick provides a clear example of how the Knights Templar built their English presence not only through major estates and preceptories, but also through small, carefully dispersed holdings. These modest properties, though easily overlooked, formed an essential part of the financial structure that supported the Order’s wider activities.
FLORE - Watermill
One of the most valuable possessions held by the Knights Templar in Flore was a watermill known as Bottlemill. Standing beside the River Nene on the southern edge of the village, it formed part of the Order's Northamptonshire estate and provided a steady income from the grinding of grain.
Flore was already an important settlement when it was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, which lists two watermills in the village, demonstrating the long-standing importance of milling to the local economy.
By the late thirteenth century, one of these mills belonged to the Knights Templar. A surviving medieval rental records:
Philip of Gayton, for one mill called Bottlemill (molendinum quod dicitur Bottelemulle), pays an annual rent of 18 shillings.
This is the earliest known reference to Bottlemill by name. Philip, described as being "of Gayton", was almost certainly the tenant rather than the owner, leasing the mill from the Templars in return for an annual rent.
Unfortunately, no surviving medieval charter has yet been identified recording when the Templars acquired Bottlemill or who donated it to the Order. Like many Templar estates, it was probably received through the generosity of a local Norman lord during the twelfth century, but the original benefactor remains unknown.
Following the suppression of the Knights Templar in 1308, the mill passed, with the rest of the Order's English estates, into the hands of the Knights Hospitaller.
Where was Bottlemill?
Although the medieval mill has disappeared, its location can still be identified with reasonable confidence. Historic maps and surviving earthworks place the later Flore Mill immediately south of the village, beside the River Nene, where a mill pond and engineered mill leat are still visible in the landscape. Local tradition records that this was one of the two Domesday mills, making it the strongest candidate for the site of the Templars' Bottlemill.
Today, nothing of the medieval buildings survives above ground, but the earthworks around the former mill preserve the location of one of the Knights Templar's most important economic assets in Northamptonshire—a working watermill that helped support the Order's estates over seven centuries ago.
GREAT DODDINGTON - Mill & Lands
Great Doddington Watermill
The Knights Templar owned a valuable watermill at Great Doddington by the late thirteenth century, making it one of the most profitable estates held by the Order in Northamptonshire.
The earliest known reference appears in the Templar rental compiled after the suppression of the Order in 1308. It records that Thomas, son of John (Thomas filius Johannis) leased one watermill, one holm of meadow and two acres of land at Great Doddington, paying an annual rent of 53 shillings and 4 pence—one of the highest recorded rents from any former Templar property in the county. The inclusion of riverside meadow and adjoining land demonstrates that the lease comprised a complete milling enterprise rather than simply the mill building itself.
The original benefactor who granted the mill to the Knights Templar has not yet been identified. Although the Order was established in England by the 1120s and acquired estates across Northamptonshire throughout the twelfth century, no surviving charter has yet been discovered recording the donation of the Great Doddington mill. It was almost certainly acquired before the end of the thirteenth century and remained in Templar ownership until the Order's suppression in 1308, when its estates passed to the Knights Hospitaller.
The medieval mill is believed to have stood on the site of the present-day Hardwater Mill, on the River Nene. Documentary evidence records only a single medieval watermill at Great Doddington, while Historic England confirms that the surviving mill retains its historic mill race beneath the present building, indicating centuries of continuous occupation on the same site. Medieval records also refer to a "Mill of Hepdewath" associated with Barnard's Manor, and this may represent an earlier name for the same mill, although this connection has yet to be conclusively proven.
Today, the former Templar mill survives as Hardwater Mill, a Grade II listed building on Hardwater Road, Great Doddington (NN29 7TD). Although the present structure dates largely from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it almost certainly occupies the site where Thomas, son of John, operated the Knights Templar's mill more than seven hundred years ago, preserving one of the few identifiable industrial sites associated with the Order's medieval estates in Northamptonshire.
BARTON (Hanred) - Messuage
The Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller at Barton Hanred
Barton Hanred, now absorbed into the wider modern parish of Barton Seagrave near Kettering, preserves a small but important link with the medieval military orders. Although there was no Templar preceptory or Hospitaller commandery at Barton, surviving records show that both the Knights Templar and later the Knights Hospitaller held land there.
The key evidence comes from a former Templar rental preserved as TNA SC 12/13/47, a summary of rents from Templar lands in Northamptonshire in the first year of Edward II. Under “Barton Hanneradde”, identifiable as Barton Hanred, the roll records Peter Humfret holding one messuage and one virgate of land, for which he paid 10 shillings yearly.
A messuage was a dwelling house or farmstead, usually including its yard, outbuildings and attached plot. A virgate was a customary unit of land, varying by manor, but often treated as a substantial peasant or tenant holding. The Templar estate at Barton Hanred was therefore not simply a rent-charge or a field strip: it was a small agricultural tenement, probably consisting of a house or farmstead with open-field land attached.
The name of the tenant is significant. Peter Humfret, or Humfrey, appears in the Templar rental at Barton Hanred, and the Humfrey family later became closely associated with Barton Hanred. Later records show the Humphrey or Umfrey family as long-settled in the area, suggesting that Peter may have belonged to an established local line whose connection with Barton reached back into the Templar period. This does not yet prove a continuous family descent from Peter Humfret, but it gives an important direction for further research.
After the suppression of the Templars in the early fourteenth century, many of their lands passed to the Knights Hospitaller, the Order of St John of Jerusalem. At Barton, the Hospitaller evidence is especially interesting. The Victoria County History records that the Priory of St John of Jerusalem held lands in Barton, some of which were probably formerly held by the Templars. It also records that in 1292, William de Barton, chaplain, granted the Hospitallers one messuage and one virgate of land in Barton.
This creates an important research question. The Templar rental records one messuage and one virgate at Barton Hanred held by Peter Humfret, while the Hospitaller record describes one messuage and one virgate granted by William de Barton. The similarity is striking, but the two records cannot yet be assumed to describe the same property. William de Barton’s grant was made before the Templars were dissolved, so it may have been a separate Hospitaller acquisition rather than former Templar land. Alternatively, the later Hospitaller estate at Barton may have combined both a direct Hospitaller grant and former Templar land after 1312.
William de Barton is described as a chaplain, meaning he was a cleric. However, the surviving summary does not say where he served. He may have been attached to a parish church, chapel, household, or local religious foundation. The wording of the grant suggests that the messuage and virgate were probably his own land or tenement to give, rather than parish church land, but this should be confirmed from the original inquisition ad quod damnum behind the grant.
The Hospitaller presence at Barton Hanred was not limited to passive landholding. The Prior of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem in England also held a view of frankpledge for his tenants of Barton Hanred, at Glapthorn. A view of frankpledge was a local jurisdictional right: a court or legal assembly through which tenants were presented, local order was maintained, and minor offences or obligations could be dealt with. This means the Hospitallers had recognised tenants at Barton Hanred who were attached to a wider Hospitaller jurisdictional court held at Glapthorn, near Oundle.
This is important because it shows that Barton Hanred was not simply a place where the Hospitallers collected a small rent. Their tenants there formed part of a legal and administrative structure. The Barton Hanred tenants may have owed suit to the Hospitaller court at Glapthorn, suggesting that the Order of St John exercised both economic and jurisdictional influence in this part of Northamptonshire.
The likely landscape context is the medieval manor of Barton Hanred, now represented by the moated earthworks and shrunken settlement remains west of modern Barton Seagrave. Historic England records two moated enclosures, fishponds, water channels and shrunken medieval village remains in this area. The Northamptonshire Historic Environment Record identifies the southern moat as the likely site of the manor of Barton Hanred.
Peter Humfret’s Templar messuage was probably not the moated manor house itself. It is more likely to have been one of the ordinary tenant farmsteads belonging to the Barton Hanred manorial landscape, with its virgate of land held in the surrounding open fields. The surviving earthworks near the moated site include traces of the medieval settlement, and these may represent the wider village environment in which such tenant messuages once stood.
The evidence therefore supports a careful conclusion. The Knights Templar held a small estate at Barton Hanred, consisting of one messuage and one virgate of land, leased to Peter Humfret for 10 shillings a year. The Knights Hospitaller later held lands in Barton, including a messuage and virgate granted by William de Barton, chaplain, in 1292, and they exercised a view of frankpledge for their Barton Hanred tenants at Glapthorn. The overlap between the Templar and Hospitaller holdings is highly suggestive, but the exact relationship between Peter Humfret’s Templar tenancy and William de Barton’s Hospitaller grant still requires confirmation from the original inquisition and later Hospitaller records.
Today, Barton Hanred survives not as a separate village name, but within the historic landscape of Barton Seagrave. Its moats, fishponds and shrunken medieval village remains preserve the setting in which the Templars and Hospitallers once held land, collected rents, and administered tenants. The record is small, but it opens a valuable window onto how the military orders operated away from their great preceptories: through modest rural tenements, local families, and scattered manorial rights embedded within the everyday life of medieval Northamptonshire.
LONG BUCKBY - Two Messuages
Long Buckby in Northamptonshire has an important, though often overlooked, connection with the medieval military religious orders of the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller. The surviving evidence shows that the Templars held a small agricultural estate at Buckby, now Long Buckby, consisting of two messuages and two virgates of land. This holding was later associated with the Hospitallers and may have formed part of the small manor or estate later absorbed into Chokes Manor after 1558.
The key record is SC 12/13/47, a summary of rents from former Templar lands in Northamptonshire from the first year of Edward II. Under Buckebi, the roll records William Russell and William Garry as tenants of:
“ij mes’ ij virgat’ terre” — two messuages and two virgates of land.
They paid 9s 10½d annually, divided between the usual rent terms of the year. A messuage meant a dwelling house with its yard, outbuildings and associated plot, while a virgate was a customary unit of arable land. The exact acreage varied, but two virgates could represent a substantial holding, probably two farmsteads with their attached strips, rights of pasture and other agricultural privileges.
This was not a Templar preceptory or commandery. There is no evidence of a Templar chapel, manor house, or resident community of brothers at Long Buckby. Instead, the estate appears to have been one of many small income-producing properties held across Northamptonshire. The same rental lists Templar lands and rents at places including Welford, Cosgrove, Furtho, Alderton, Shutlanger, Stoke Bruerne, Great Doddington, Flore, Harpole, Bradden and others. Long Buckby was therefore part of a wider network of Templar estates, probably administered from a larger regional centre.
The origin of the Long Buckby holding appears to lie in the older Fitz-Alfred / Mortain estate. In 1066 the manor was held by Turbern and Alric, and by 1086 it was held by Alfred from the Count of Mortain. The later estate was associated with William Fitz-Alfred, and it is likely that land from this manorial holding was granted to the Templars or, possibly, to the Hospitallers. After the suppression of the Templars in the early fourteenth century, their lands generally passed to the Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem, explaining the later Hospitaller connection at Long Buckby.
There was also a separate Hospitaller interest at Buckby before the Templars were dissolved. In 1293, Simon de Thorp is recorded as granting the Hospitallers either 100s rent in Buckby or, in another version of the record, a messuage and three and a half virgates of land. This shows that the Hospitallers already had an estate interest at Buckby before they received former Templar properties. It is therefore possible that two related military-order holdings existed in the same area: one Templar, later transferred to the Hospitallers, and another held by the Hospitallers in their own right.
A strong working theory places this estate in or near Murcott, a medieval settlement west of Long Buckby. Murcott was not simply a later farm-name, but a real medieval settlement with houses, closes, crofts, open-field land and possible water-management features. Later evidence suggests that Murcott tenants were incorporated into Chokes Manor, and the former Hospitaller manor at Long Buckby was probably also absorbed into Chokes Manor after 1558. This makes Murcott a strong candidate for the location of the former Templar/Hospitaller holding.
The sequence may therefore have been as follows: an early Mortain/Fitz-Alfred estate at Buckby or Murcott was granted to the military orders; the Templars held two messuages and two virgates there, leased to William Russell and William Garry; after the suppression of the Templars, the holding passed into Hospitaller hands; and after the final loss of Hospitaller lands in England, the estate was absorbed into Chokes Manor.
At present, the Murcott identification remains a strong but unproven hypothesis. The medieval rental calls the place Buckby, not Murcott, and no surviving record yet names William Russell or William Garry specifically as tenants in Murcott. However, because Murcott was often treated administratively as part of Long Buckby, the absence of the name is not conclusive. The most important records still to examine are the Dissolution account of the Hospitaller manor, the 1484 rental, and the 1590/1591 survey of Chokes Manor. These may reveal whether the former Hospitaller lands lay among the Murcott tenants later absorbed into Chokes Manor.
The evidence therefore points to Long Buckby as a genuine but modest Templar estate, later connected with the Hospitallers. Its tenants, William Russell and William Garry, provide rare personal names for those who actually occupied and farmed the land. Murcott remains the most promising location for the estate on the ground, especially if the former Hospitaller manor was indeed folded into Chokes Manor after 1558.
TEMPLAR FIGURES AT NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Knights Templar at Northamptonshire
Brother Adam de Somervila -
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