Temple Bruer Preceptory
Temple Bruer Preceptory | |
---|---|
Early English architecture | |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
Designated | 1 February 1967 |
Reference no. | 485917 |
Designated | 13-Dec-1929 |
Reference no. | 1007686 |
Location in Lincolnshire |
Temple Bruer Preceptory is a historic building in the
Foundation and history
The preceptory of Temple Bruer was founded late in the reign of
Following the death of Sir John Babington in 1534, Sir Giles Russell was made commander at Temple Bruer. His letters show that he did not reside at Temple Bruer; but finding that the house was in a ruinous condition he made some effort to get it repaired and put it in a better condition. In 1539 Russell was made turcopolier, of the Order and being at the time in Malta, he probably saw little of his commandery before its dissolution in 1541.[5]
The lands of the preceptory
The original endowment included lands in Ashby de la Launde, with the parish church and pasturage for sheep; lands and church at Rowston, Heckington, Burton, and were granted by benefactors of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In 1338 the revenue of the house was £177 7s. 7d., including the churches of Ashby and Rowston, the free chapel of Bruere, with lands at Bruere, Rowston, Wellingore, Ashby de la Launde, Brauncewell, and North Kirkby; the expenses were £84 0s. 2d. The clear value of the house at the dissolution was £16 19s. 10¾d., including the bailiwick of South Witham and the farm of half the rectory and the grange of Holme in Heckington, with perquisites of a court.[6]
Remaining site
The ruin consists of the intact square south tower of the temple church, one of two added to the original structure during the Templars' tenure, north and south of the chancel or presbytery. The Preceptory Tower is currently in the care of Heritage Lincolnshire The farmhouse which stands to the south of the tower was built in the 1840s for Charles Chaplin of Blankney Hall. It is likely that it was designed by the architect William Adams Nicholson, who acted as estate architect for Charles Chaplin.
Excavations
1833 excavations
Rev Dr George Oliver Temple Brewer and its Knights
I would describe the in the caverns of Temple Bruer, when I excavated in 1833.....
Some of these vaults were appropriated to purposes that it is revolting to allude to. In one of them a niche or cell was discovered which had been carefully walled up; and within it the skeleton of a man, who appears to have died in a sitting posture, for his head and arms were found hanging between his legs, and the back bowed forward.Immuring was not an uncommon punishment in these places; and an instance of it was discovered a century ago, in one of the walls at Thornton Abbey, in this county. Another skeleton of an aged man was found in these dungeons, with only one tooth in his head. His body seems to have been thrown down, as if from a trap door; for he lay doubled up; and in the fore part of his skull were two holes which had evidently been produced by violence. ([Footnote] In the corner of one of these vaults, I found plain indications of burning. The wall stones had assumed the colour of brick, and great quantities of cinders were mixed with human sculls and bones, all of which had been submitted to the operation of fire, and some of them were perfectly calcined. This horrible cavern had been closed up with masonry.) Underneath the cloisters, between the church and the tower, many human bones were discovered which appear to have been thrown together in the utmost confusion, and lying at different depths; some being very near the surface. Amongst these were the skeleton of a very young child; and the skull of an adult, with a round hole in the upper part, into which a little finger might be inserted, and which was probably the cause of death. Several large square stones were taken up with rings attached; and altogether the ruins exhibited symptoms of violence. We can scarcely forebear entertaining the opinion that these are the remains of unhappy persons who had been confined in the dungeons of the Preceptory, for the Templars were forever at feud with their neighbours; and, as they possessed the powers of executing criminals within their own liberties, they would not be very likely to remit, what they might conceive to be the merited punishment of delinquency.
A Selection of Papers relative to the County of Lincoln, read before the Lincolnshire Topographical Society, 1841,1842. Lincoln 1843 pp.82-3.
In 1833
1908 excavations
In 1908
Hope appears to have identified part of the precinct wall to the west of the church as that which was authorised by the 1306
The second phase dates from the later 12th century. A porch was constructed at the west end. The apse was removed and the presbytery extended two further bays to the east. This was followed by a third phase when towers were added to either side of the extended presbytery. A similar arrangement was adopted at the nearby Aslackby Preceptory. The northern tower survived as foundations, while the southern tower remains to its full height. Access to the ground floor of the tower is from the north and would formerly communicated into the presbytery. To the east of the door are the remains of a double piscina which would have served the high altar. Above the door is a corbel that supported the rib vault of the presbytery roof; while to the right is the triple-shafted respond of the south side of the chancel arch. The ground floor room of the tower is a rib-vaulted chamber with windows in three sides. This room has an impressive blind arcade on its west and south sides, with a stone bench beneath. This bench has had incorporated a double sedilia and piscina. There is a further chamber above, reached by a spiral staircase. The fourth or final phase of building was the addition, revealed as foundations on the south side, of a chapel. The roof line of this chapel can be clearly seen on the west face of the standing tower. The photographs published by Hope show that ruinous elements of the upper parts of the tower were extensively repaired at a later date.[10]
Gallery
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Temple Bruer Preceptory bySamuel Buck
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Preceptory Tower
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Tower and outbuilding at Temple Bruer
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Temple Farm at Temple Bruer
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Preceptory Tower interior
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Preceptory Tower vaulting
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Springer for vaulting
See also
Other Templar preceptories in Lincolnshire
- Aslackby Preceptory, Kesteven (TF0830)
- Eagle, Kesteven (SK875672)
- Temple Bruer Preceptory
- Witham Preceptory, Kesteven (SK928205)
- Willoughton Preceptory, Lindsey (SK923931)
Templar 'camera' and granges in Lincolnshire
- Lindsey . Cell of Willougton(SE8907)
- Temple Belwood, Belton, North Lincolnshire
- Grantham Angel and Royal
- Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
- Great Limber, Lindsey (TA1308)
- Horkstow, Lindsey (SE9818) Cell of Willoughton.
- Mere, Branston and Mere. Probably a grange of Willoughton.
References
- ^ Historic England. "Temple Bruer (349297)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ Page, William, ed. (1906). A History of the County of Lincoln Volume=2. Victoria County History. pp. 210–213 'Houses of Knights Templars: Willoughton, Eagle, Aslackby, South Witham and Temple Bruer'. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
- ^ ’'Sister Elspeth'’ (1906), 212
- ^ ‘'Mills'’ (c1990), unpaginated
- ^ ’'Sister Elspeth'’ (1906), 212
- ^ ’'Sister Elspeth'’ (1906), 212 and more fully listed by ‘'Mills'’ (c.1990), unpaginated
- ISBN 9780718813734.
- ^ "Antram" (1989), 752
- ^ "St John Hope". (1908), pp. 177—198
- ^ "Antram" (1989), 751–2.
Bibliography
- Antram N (revised), Pevsner N & Harris J, (1989), The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire, Yale University Press.
- Charles G. Addison The History of the Knights Templars (1997) ISBN 0932813402
- Larking, L B. and Kemble, J. M (1857), The Knights Hospitallers in England: Being a Report of the Prior Philip de Thame to the Grand Master Elyan de Villanova for A.D. 1338 Camden Society, pp.153-156
- Mills, D. The Knights Templar in Kesteven North Kesteven District Council (c.1990)
- Oliver G. Rev.Dr.(1843) Temple Bruer and its Knights, in A selection of Papers relative to the County of Lincoln read before the Lincolnshire Topographical Society 1841,1842. pp. 67–90, W & B Brooke, High Street, Lincoln.
- Sister Elspeth (1906) in Page, William,(ed). A History of the County of Lincoln Volume 2. Victoria County History. pp. 210–213 Houses of Knights Templars: Willoughton, Eagle, Aslackby, South Witham and Temple Bruer.
- St John Hope, W.H. (1908) The Round Church of the Knights Templar at Temple Bruer, Lincolnshire in Archaeologia, LXL, 177–198
- White, A.The Knights Templar of at Temple Bruer and Aslackby', Lincolnshire Museums Archaeology Series No.25. (1981)
External links
- Hospitaller Archaeology [1]
- Historic England Scheduling details [2]
- British Listed Buildings [3]
- Heritage Lincolnshire Video reconstruction of the Preceptory [4]
- Heritage Lincolnshire site information [5]
- ^ http://www.hospitallerarchaeology.co.uk/temple-bruer-preceptory--documents.html
- ^ "Remains of preceptory church, Temple Bruer, Temple Bruer with Temple High Grange - 1007686 | Historic England".
- ^ "Church Tower to the North of Temple Farmhouse, Temple Bruer with Temple High Grange, Lincolnshire".
- ^ "Temple Bruer fly through". YouTube.
- ^ "Temple Bruer Knights Templar Preceptory Tower • Heritage Lincolnshire".