Temple ( gd, Baile nan Trodach) is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in Midlothian, Scotland. Situated to the south of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, the village lies on the east bank of the river South Esk. The civil parish has a population of 225 (in 2011).Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by National Records of Scotland. Web site http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ retrieved March 2016. See "Standard Outputs", Table KS101SC, Area type: Civil Parish 1930

Name

The name "Temple" refers to its historical connection to the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon ( la, Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar, or simply the Templars, was a Catholic military order, o ...

. In 1237, the town name was recorded as "Ballentrodoch", from the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well a ...

''Baile nan Trodach'', which means "town of the warriors", again a reference to the Knights Templar.

History

Pre-Reformation

Historically the Parish of Temple was divided into three portions, the ancient parish of Clerkington, and the chapelries of Moorfoot and Balantrodach. Clerkington was a parsonage held by the monks of Newbattle Abbey, Moorfoot was a chapelry founded by monks from the same institution. Balantrodach on the other hand, was a chapelry of the Knights Templar.

Knights Templar

In 1128, Hugues de Payens, the first Grand Master, met with David I in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

and was granted the lands of Balantrodach. In 1128, the

Council of Troyes There have been a number of councils held at Troyes: Council of 867 The council was held on orders of Pope Nicholas I, to deal with Hincmar of Reims and his quarrels. The decrees were signed on 2 November 867. The Council ruled that no bishop co ...

formally recognized the Order. Balantrodach became their principal Templar seat and preceptory in Scotland until the suppression of the order between 1307 and 1312. As Temple, being just to the south of the Firth of Forth, was an area of the country occupied by England at this time, knights were prosecuted, but not all were found guilty. Nearby to the north, politics was even more on their side –

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...

had been excommunicated, and so was not required to follow papal command

and at war with England, it has been suggested that he may have been welcoming to powerful and desperate allies. Following 1312 and the Papal bull ( edict) entitled ''

Ad providam ''Ad providam'' was the name of a Papal Bull issued by Pope Clement V in 1312. It built on a previous bull, ''Vox in excelso'', which had disbanded the order of the Knights Templar. ''Ad providam'' essentially handed over all Templar assets to ...

'', King

Edward II of England Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to ...

abolished the Templars in both England and Scotland. According to the edict, all Knight Templar property was to be seized and handed over to the control of the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

, who had a preceptory at Torphichen in West Lothian. Although he was located in Scotia, north of the Firth of Forth, Robert the Bruce, being under interdict at the time, was reluctant to do so. Many Templar Knights may have assimilated within the Hospitallers. But it's not necessarily the case that the Templars everywhere immediately ceased to b

Indeed, Scotia, North of the Firth, in Scotland the Order combined with the Hospitallers and continued as The Order of St John and the Temple until the reformation.Scottish Knights Templar
/ref> "Legend has it that treasure of the Knights Templar was removed secretly from Paris, to be hidden in Temple. A local legend states: 'Twixt the oak and the elm tree/You will find buried the millions free.'

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

legends about the Templar treasure apparently also state that the treasure was taken to Scotland, with the knights landing on the Isle of May, the first island they would encounter in the Firth of Forth. Geographically, this would take them to the mouth of the river Esk, which could take them on to Rosslyn..."

Post-Reformation

Following the Reformation the present parish was formed from the three older divisions. In 1618, it took its name Temple from the preceptory chapel which had by then become the parish kirk. In the following centuries Temple became a bustling agricultural village, but in recent years it has become a

dormitory village A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for nearby Edinburgh. The current Church was funded by Thomas Creak whose family were leading figures in Temple in the 1820/30s and earlier. The family owned two houses in Temple but also owned a large farming property in Eccles, Berwickshire.

Mansion houses

Temple has two large houses in the vicinity: *

Arniston House Arniston House is a historic house in Midlothian, Scotland, near the village of Temple. This Georgian mansion was designed by William Adam in 1726 for Robert Dundas, of Arniston, the elder, the Lord President of the Court of Session. The western ...

(built between 1726 and 1750) designed by William Adam and completed by his son, John Adam, built for Robert Dundas, of Arniston, the elder, Lord President of the Court of Session *Rosebery House, (built ''circa.'' 1805) for

Archibald Primrose, 4th Earl of Rosebery Archibald John Primrose, 4th Earl of Rosebery (14 October 1783 – 4 March 1868), styled Viscount Primrose until 1814, was a British politician. He was the eldest son of Neil Primrose, 3rd Earl of Rosebery and his second wife, Mary Vincent. Prim ...

Notable residents

* Andrew Young, (1885–1971) minister of Temple Kirk and Makar *

Sir William Gillies Sir William George Gillies (1898–1973) was a renowned Scottish landscape and still life painter. He is often referred to simply as W. G. Gillies. Life Gillies was born in Haddington, East Lothian. He had just enrolled at the Edinburgh C ...

(1898–1973) Landscape painter

Notes

References

External links

Temple community website
{{authority control Villages in Midlothian Parishes in Midlothian Knights Templar