In 1248 a charter of free warren over their demesnes at Balsall was granted to the Templars, and in 1268 a weekly market on Thursday and two fairs of three days each at the feasts of St. Gregory and St. Matthew.

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A number of other gifts were made to them, including the manor of Sherborne and lands in Tysoe and elsewhere in the county. Henry II granted the hermitage of Fletchamstead and also the township of Keele in Staffordshire, and a preceptory was duly established at Balsall. The Templars held lands in the following Manors of Warwick

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• TEMPLE BALSALL -

Deep in Warwickshire lies Temple Balsall - and the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Built on the site of the   Formery Warwickshire Preceptory of Temple Balsall, the headquarters for the Templars in Warwick,

What remains of the original timber framed hall survives to this date - next to the Church - within a rebrick shell.

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The manor of Temple Balsall was given to the Templars some time in the 1160's, by their long time and genrous supporter Roger de Mowbray.

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The Templars were also gifted lands in Other parts of Warwickshire,  by other donors at Cubbington, Harbury, Tysoe, Wolvey, Studley, Warwick, Chilverscoton, Sherbourne, Fletchhampstead, Temple Herdewicke,  with Temple Balsall becoming the Preceptory (HQ) for all of these, and controlled day to day farming activities - (sheep were directed from Studley to Harbury to be fattened, all cider apples were brought to the Press at Balsall, stock breeding was undertaken here, and new animal stock sent out to other Manors in the area)

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• CUBBINGTON (COBINGTON) - In 1276, Henry de Seymour having fled overseas, manor was in the king's hands and was ordered to be held for the maintenance of Ermegarde his wife during the king's pleasure. Soon afterwards she granted it to the Knights Templars, who in 1279 held 3 yardlands in demesne, and an inclosed grove, in Cubbington.  In the following year they concluded, through Robert de Turvill, Master of the Order in England, another agreement in favour of Ermegarde Seymour and her husband, for an annual rent of 4 marks silver, to be paid to them during her life, and this payment was continued to her after the suppression of the Order in 1309.  Though documentary evidence of the grant seems to be lacking, the Templar property in Cubbington must have been transferred to the Knights Hospitallers, as they had the manor in 1332.

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• HARBURY (HERBEBURE) - Much of the land in Harbury was owned by absentee landlords and changed hands with great regularity. including the Templars, who gace their name to Temple End - The manor and temple house still exists as a residential house (pictured below)

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• TYSOE (TYSHO) - The Templars held land in Lower Tysoe. In 1185, Robert de Stafford and Henry  de Clinton granted lands in Tysoe—comprising four or five hides—to the Knights Templar. Following the suppression of the Templars, ownership of these lands passed to the Knights Hospitaller and became part of their Balsall Preceptory estate. Little remains of their presence in the area, other than a new housing estate named "The Templars". The Church in Middle Tysoe is an interesting church with a lot of Medieval Graffiti around the Church - Including a number of Templar crosses engraved on the entrance, which is reportedly where Knights taking part in Crusades would mark as they left for the Holy Land, and mark another when they returned

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• WOLVEY (WOLFHEY) - The Templars held a farm at Wolvey, which included a large fish pond, in 1257 – hence the current name of Temple Farm on Temple Hill. The Farm is Now a B&B & the Large fish pond is still visible

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• STUDLEY (STODLEYE) - Some time before 1185 Peter de Studley gave some lands and a mill in Studley to the Knights Templars, who compounded with Amice, widow of William Corbucion, for land there in 1233. Another small grant was made to the order in 1246 by Richard de la Holte and Agnes his wife. On the dissolution of the order the property they held, which included two mills and 30s. rent, reverted to the overlord and was held by the Earl of Warwick at his death in 1315. A few years later the property of the Templars was transferred to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who held this estate in Studley until the reign of Henry VIII. In April 1542 the manor was granted to Sir Edmund Knightley, but part at least of the estate seems to have constituted the manor of HOLT, of which Richard Rishton was in possession in 1414, perhaps through marriage with the heiress of the Holts.

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• CHILVERSCOTON (CHERLECOTE) - The Knights Templars held land in Chilvers Coton in 1185. These passed to the Knights Hospitallers when the former order was disbanded. The land possibly still belonged to the Hospitallers in 1529. After 1481 the property is always recorded as a manor and in the Post Medieval period a manor house called ‘The Temple’ existed on the site (see image below) - the land is know from documentary evidence to have been within the demesnes of the the monastic military order of the Knight Templars between 1185 and 1314 and subsiquently the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1540. The lans formed part of the manorial estate of Chilverscoton and was used for farming purposes. During this time buildings on the site included a hall, chapel, granary and several other agricultural buildings.

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• SHERBOURNE (SHIRBURNE) - The church of Sherbourne was granted to the Templars and in 1185 was valued at one mark. After the downfall of the Templars the church continued to be appropriated to the Hospitallers, their successors, until the Dissolution. The vicarage was valued at £5 in 1291 and also in 1340–1. In 1428 it was united to the rectory of Fulbrook, the church of which was demolished by 1531. The Knights Templar held 360 Acres of Land in Sherbourne, donated to them by the Roger the First Earl of Warwick Which was used for farming, and made the Manor the most valuable associated to Temple Balsall - The Site can be linked to the Templars by a Knight Templar Tithe cross (used to denote that the lands were tithe free) which is now visable as part of a modern day wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• FLETCHAMPSTEAD (FECHEMAMSTEAD) - Henry 1 granted land at over Fletchamstead (Torrington Avenue area) to a hermit named Gerard, this being a place of great tranquility, suitable for solitary life. Gerard built a chapel and left the rest to settlers. Later this chapel and much surrounding land came into the hands of the Knights Templars, who also have connections to westwood heath, as they aquired lands there in 1293. Following the surpression of the order of the Temple, the Abbot of Stoneleigh seized the chapel lands, later granting them to the Knights Hospitallers, The estate then became part of Temple Balsall, After the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1539), the Templars’ land at Fletchamstead passed initially to Katherine Parr and then through various hands over successive generations, until in 1564 it was purchased by Sir Thomas and Dame Alice Leigh. Their son “built a fair house there and made a park”. This was Fletchamstead Hall, re-developed over the years and demolished in the 1950s. Archaeological evidence of the hall was discovered during the construction of Finham II School on Torrington Avenue.

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• WARWICK - Preceptory of Knights Templars founded by Roger, Earl of Warwick, between 1123-42. It became a member of Balsall, which may have superceded Warwick as a Preceptory circa 1142. Dissolved 1308-12. In 1338, under the Knights Hospitallers, Warwick maintained a chaplain, bailiff and pensioner. Its location in Warwick Castle Park (SEE MAP BELOW) is shown on a map of 1695. Field investigations in 1968 located no traces of the feature. The Knights templars had a house beyond the bridge founded by Roger de Newbargh, and they gave the name to Temple Hill in Castle Park. There is recorded 29 servants at this location prior to 1153, 7 tradesman plus an ale-wife.

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• HERDWICKE - The Templars held arable lands at Herdewycke, donated by Ralph de Sudeley a local Knight, who upon his return from the crusade established a preceptory for training. Their chapel in modern times was used as a barn, now it has been renovated as a domestic dwelling and still available to view (see image below)

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• ​RADFORD SEMELE - The Templars held arable lands at Radford Semele, although there is not much documented evidence of where this was located. We do know that William Simely, allowed William Pludieu to assign lands here to the Templars at some date shortly before 1185. Geoffrey de Simely, son of William, was holding the half-fee of the Earl of Warwick in 1242 and gave to the Hospital of St. John in Warwick 2s. rent payable by Roger de Cherlecote for leave to put one end of the dam of his mill at Whitnash on Geoffrey's land in Radford. The Medieval water mill is recorded at being near what is now a new housing estate and is accessible by local road Otters Rest - see our interactive map for more information
   

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• NEWBOLD PACEY - The Templars held Land in Newbold Pacey amounting to 2 hides given to the Knights Templars before 1185. This passed to the Hospitallers upon their dissolution, and in 1553 the messuage and lands here belonging to the dissolved Preceptory of Balsall. Not much remains of their time here, however there are a number of earthworks and the remains of a what looks like a pond next to the Church, which could have possibly been linked to them

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• MIDDLETON - Middleton Hall was once home to a moated manor held by the Knights Templar. The estate originally belonged to the de Marmion family, who owned the manor from 1120 to 1291. The de Marmions were prominent figures in medieval England, serving as the King's Standard Bearers and Champions—roles that included jousting in the monarch's colours and representing the Crown during coronations. During their tenure at Middleton, the de Marmions leased part of the estate to the Knights Templar in 1185. Additional land was granted to the Prior and convent of Studley in 1259. A notable architectural feature of the estate lies to the northeast of the main hall—a timber-framed structure with a projecting staircase wing. This section features an open timber roof supported by braced tie-beams and purlins.The building also includes two stone chimneys, which are attributed to the period of Templar occupation, estimated to have lasted from 1185 to around 1247.

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• MORTON

• CHESTERTON

• AVEN

• DERSET -

• NAPTON