Dinmore Commandery

Dinmore was the third richest commandery belonging to the Order of St John in the Priory of England. (Wales and Scotland formed part of the English priory). Its estates stretched from Shropshire  through the Welsh marches to the Severn and west into Gwent and Glamorgan.

Dinmore was founded before 1170 by a brother of the Order named Thomas in the reign of Henry II. A brother William was the first commander. The gift was confirmed in 1190 by a charter granted by Richard 1 ( the Lionheart) who added a further gift of his own and conceding the privilege that any disputes concerning the property could be tried by a royal court and before a royal justice. The charter was witnessed by Archbishop Baldwin an ardent protagonist of he Crusades. King John prohibited the sheriff of Hereford from disturbing the brethren or their tenant sin the county. On 9 September 1251 Henry III granted the Hospitallers hunting privileges and free warren on their estates at Dinmore.

Dinmore is six miles north of the city of Hereford on a commanding site almost on the summit of Dinmore Hill with extensive views aver the country to the southeast. Little is known about the plan of the original domestic buildings as the house on the site has been almost entirely rebuilt.

The only building on the site to date from the Knight's occupation is the commandery chapel, to the south of the manor house. This small building, of considerable beauty is of Norman origin that appears to have been reconstructed in the 14th century when the east end of the building was extended and the tower built at the west end. The chapel consists of a nave with a north porch and a west tower with a tall spire. At the apex of the west end of the chapel is the patriarchal cross of Jerusalem.

Yeaveley (Stydd) Commandery

In the Doomsday Book Yeaveley was made up of two manors, Yeaveley and Stydd. During the reign of King Richard I (the Lion Heart) (1189-1199), in 1190, Ralph le Fun of Yeaveley gave the Order of St John a house at Stydd, together with lands, woods and mills. These together formed the nucleus of the commandery of Yeaveley. The commandery was to receive a substantial increase in its revenues when in 1268, Sir William Meynell gave the Order significant property in the nearby town of Ashbourne.

In 1338 when Prior de Thame inquired into the state of the Order in England the Commander of Yeaveley was Fra' Henry de Bakewell who was both commander and chaplain. He was born of 'gentle' parents and was professed priest who before joining the Order. The other fully professed member of the Order living at Yeavely was Fra' Thomas de Batheley, a serving brother who had served for five years in the Convent at Rhodes before being appointed to his post at the commandery. both brothers received an annual allowance of £1 for their robes, 6s 8d for their mantles and 8s for other expenses.

The others living at the commandery included John Bray who was a donat. a layman who had given his property to the Order iin return for living at the commandery and being supported bythe Order. he was given 22s 8d for his robe and other expenses, was allowed to wear the white six-pointed cross of the Order but was excused compulsory attendence at chapel because he was not a poroffessed member of the Ordr. Then there were two corrodaries William Warde and William Pistori and two pensioners William of Impyngton and Robert Brex.

The Tudor mansion was erected on the site of the former commandery after the Dissolution.

St Saviour, Stydd

The Church of St Saviour at Stydd was founded circa 1136, in the reign of king Stephen by the Knights Hospitaller. The Church is  Norman style although the three light east window with its fine tracery is a little later and dates from the 13th century. The north wall retains all its original features having two narrow round- headed labelled windows. Between them  the original doorway is blocked-up and leaning against the wall is the original door.

The font belongs to the first half of the 16th century and was a gift from Sir Thomas Pemberton who was the Commander of Newland, under which the community of Hospitallers at Stydd was a camera. In 1338 the Commander of Newland had to pay £5.6.8 for a yearly pension of the chaplain at Stydd.

On the South wall is the main door, the fine oak nailed-studded door is original.  The straight headed windows of three lights date from the 15th century and came from St Wilfrid's Church in Ribchester and were installed in the 17th century. The oak screen and pulpit are 17th century.

Chibburn Commandery

The small commandery of Chibburn, between the village of Widdrington and Druridge Bay on the Northumberland coast was donated to the Hospitallers in 1313. The site was located on the main route used by pilgrims visiting Holy Island and Lindisfarne. These ruins are the best preserved commandery of the Order of St John in England. The site is enclosed by a wall and was originally surrounded by a moat,  now filed in.

The commandery buildings at Chibburn are arranged around a courtyard and consist of a chapel, hall and living accommodation for the three members of the Order who lived there including the commander.

There was once a tower on the north side of which little remains. On the west side of the courtyard are the remains of the great hall. The fireplaces have massive lintels.

The chapel on the south side of the courtyard is the best preserved part of the commandery.

Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540 Chibburn was sold by the Crown in 1553 to Sir John Widdrington.  He used  it as the dower house for Whittington Castle. The site was abandoned after being razed by French troops who raided the Northumberland Coast in 1693.

Templecombe Commandery

Templecombe on the edge of the Blackmore Vale in Somerset became the most important centre of  the Order of the Temple in the west of England. In 1185 Serlo Fitz-Odo  who held the manor had given the land on the south side of the village to the Knights Templar.(The north side, Abbascombe belonged to Shaftesbury Abbey.) The preceptory buildings occupied the site of the manor house, and local tradition has it that the long building with the tiled roof that runs at right angles to the manor had housed the kitchens, stores and the refectory. In one of the kitchens a huge beam across the fireplace is admired locally for its length and size. The three walls of what remains of the chapel are now separated from the main buildings. The guest house has been identified with the former public house, the old Blue Boar. In 1312, after the suppression of the Order of the Temple, their properties, including the preceptory of Templecombe were handed over to the Order of St. John after which it became known as a commandery.

Next door to the old pub is a row of three cottages that had been known as the old Rectory and may  have been the presbytery or priest's house. It was in one of these cottages, during the last war that an extraordinary panel painting was discovered. The bizarre accusation that the Templars worshiped an idol in the shape of a head has not ceased to fascinate the public, with predictable consequences. The painting of a head painted on a panel from Templecombe has been cited as evidence for idol-worship. But the image surely dates from the Order of St John's period. Although carbon dating dates the panel to c1280, the "head" depicts their patron, John the Baptist, on a charger.

In 1539 after the Dissolution of the Monastries, Templecombe was awarded by Henry VIII to William Sherrington who also obtained Lacock Abbey. The former commandery was later bought by Richard Duke who reorganized the buildings and built the present manor house.

Garway Commandery

The preceptory of Garway in the Monow valley had been the main house of the Order of the Temple in Herefordshire. Granted to the Templars by Henry II c.1185-1187 he gave them the right to asssart 2000 acres in the Archenfield forest which had been the Crown's possession  since the revolt of Roger de Breteuil, Earl of Hereford (in 1072). In due course Garway became an important manor and administrative centre responsible for their property throughout the dioceses of Hereford and Llandaf. It is probable that the church at Garway dates from after 1162 when the Order was permitted to have its own chaplains. Originally the church was built with a circular nave in imitation of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. (The foundations of the circular nave were unearthed during excavations in 1927).

The Knights of Rhodes took over the former Templar estate at Garway in 1324. As soon as they arrived the Hospitallers began a programme of building and restoring the infrastructure of the property which had fallen into disrepair after the departure of the Templars in 1307. The nave of the church, the chancel, font and the upper storey of the tower all date from the Hospitallers' rebuilding.

The church of St Michael at Garway  was used by both the Hospitaller community and as the parish church. Seating was provided in the chancel for use by members of the Order and its officials. No seats were provided for the lay congregation who stood or knelt on the floor strewn with rushes of other hedgerow plants. However there was a stone ledge against the nave walls where the elderly and infirm could sit, giving rise to the saying "let the weak go to the wall."

After Garway had been transferred to the Knights of Rhodes it lost its status as a preceptory or commandery and became a camera of the commandery at Dinmore. However Garway continued to function as a separate unit of administration and remained a commandery in all but name, in 1338 it was in the charge of a keeper,Brother William Dalmaly, a chaplain of the Order. The estate had become an extensive manor with a demesne of 720 acres of arable and 60 acres of meadow.

 There were officials including the chamberlain, bailiff and seneschal  and numerous servants. The scale of the establishment at Garway in those days can be gauged from the numerous servants who included cooks, bakers, porters, personal servants of the keeper and two attendant pages and the reaper of the manor who was responsible for the allocation of labour services of the villeins living on the demesne (home farm). In 1338 all the servants on the estate were in receipt of wages varying from 3/4d to 13/4d a year.

There were also three holders of corrodies or pensions living at Garway in 1338, one of whom Gilbert of Pembridge dined at the table of the brethren and received a pension 20/s a year while the other two received 10/s and ate at the table of the free servants. Due to the establishment's position on the Welsh marches there was a steady stream of visitors and wayfarers who made heavy demands on the houses's hospitality.

There are no remains of the domestic buildings at Garway with the exception of the circular dovecot. According to the inscription over the door "Anno domini millesimo tres entesimo vic esimo sexto factum fuit istud columbare frrem Ricardum." "In the year 1326 this dovecot was built by Brother Richard." Outside is a projecting string course high above the ground to prevent rats from getting in. Inside there are 666 nesting boxes arranged in 19 rows.

It had been a custom or the Bishop of Hereford to make a triennial visit to the parish church at Garway, recieving on each occasion 53/4d in respect of procurations, but in 1524 the parishioners memorably barred the door to him, refusing to ring the bells. In consequence the bishop retaliated by placing the church under interdict and excommunication all those who had barred his entry.