Great Wilbraham Preceptory is a

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 ...

Great Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

and Little Wilbraham,

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

. Much of the Church of Saint Nicholas at Great Wilbraham dates back to 1226 when a preceptory was established here by the

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

when the manor was given to Alan Martel, who was at that time Templar Master. There is a Templar tombstone hidden away under the tower and a Templar cross on the outside north wall. In the nearby village of Little Wilbraham, at Temple End, an Elizabethan

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

stands on the site of the preceptory. Previous to the ownership of the Templars, the lands were held by monks of Ely. At the dissolution of the Templar order, ownership passed into the hands of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem.

References

* * *

External links

* Pictures and description at the Cambridgeshire Churches websit

Picture of the Church exteriorPicture of the St. Nicholas Roll of Honour
Churches in Cambridgeshire Wilbraham Preceptories of the Knights Hospitaller in England 1226 establishments in England {{England-church-stub

See also

References

External links