Aslackby Preceptory in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

lay to the south-east of

Aslackby Aslackby and Laughton is a civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 243, in 102 households. increasing slightly to 251 in 118 households at the 2011 cens ...

Church. Until about 1891 a tower, possibly of the

preceptory A preceptor (from Latin, "''praecepto''") is a teacher responsible for upholding a ''precept'', meaning a certain law or tradition. Buddhist monastic orders Senior Buddhist monks can become the preceptors for newly ordained monks. In the Buddhi ...

church, together with a vaulted undercroft, survived as part the Temple farmhouse. Temple farmhouse was subsequently rebuilt and a 15th-century window and a stone pinnacle remain in the garden

History of the preceptory

The preceptory was, according to

William Dugdale Sir William Dugdale (12 September 1605 – 10 February 1686) was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject. Life Dugdale was born at Shustoke, near Coleshi ...

, founded either in or before 1164. This is recorded in Dugdale’s ''Monasticom'', which states that Hubert de Rye presented the

Templars , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

with church of Aslackby with its chapel "in the year when Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury departed from the King at Northampton" – i.e., 1164. After the order was suppressed in the first decade of the 14th century, the property passed to

Temple Bruer Temple Bruer with Temple High Grange is a civil parish and a former extra-parochial area in North Kesteven, Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coast ...

The Templars

The word ''preceptory'' is used for the community of the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

which lived on one of the order's estates in the charge of its preceptor. From that its meaning was extended to include the estate and its buildings. The one at Aslackby was founded in 1192. Little of its structure survives, but early descriptions and sketches indicate that its church was like that at Temple Bruer Preceptory, a chancel with an

apsidal In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

east end and a round nave to its west. This was a standard design for Templar churches, in imitation of the

Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. The best-known example in England is the

Temple Church The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...

at the western end of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. Later, towers were built at both the Lincolnshire churches, the one at Aslackby apparently around 1200, on the south side of the round nave.White, A. Lincolnshire Museums Archaeology Series No.25 (1981)

References

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) *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) *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''. *White, A. (1981) ''The Knights Templar of at Temple Bruer and Aslackby'', Lincolnshire Museums Archaeology Series No.25.

External links

*. {{Monasteries in Lincolnshire , state=collapsed Monasteries in Lincolnshire England in the High Middle Ages History of Lincolnshire Medieval sites in England Castles and fortifications of the Knights Templar 1192 establishments in England Christian monasteries established in the 12th century

History of the preceptory

The Templars

See also

References

Bibliography

External links