Great Wilbraham Preceptory
Encyclopedia
Great Wilbraham Preceptory is a preceptory in Great
and Little Wilbraham
, Cambridgeshire
. Much of the Church of Saint Nicholas at Great Wilbraham dates back to 1226 when a preceptory was established here by the Knights Templar
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
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
.
There are some pictures and a description at the Cambridgeshire Churches website http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/gtwilbraham.htm.
Great Wilbraham
Great Wilbraham is a small village situated in a rural area some seven miles to the east of Cambridge, between the edge of an area of low-lying drained fens to the west and north, and higher ground beyond the A11 to the east....
and Little Wilbraham
Little Wilbraham
Little Wilbraham is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, southeast of Cambridge between the A1303 and the A11. It is in the district of South Cambridgeshire. It is a small village with a population of only 394 and there is little employment within the village...
, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
. Much of the Church of Saint Nicholas at Great Wilbraham dates back to 1226 when a preceptory was established here by the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
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
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
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
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
.
There are some pictures and a description at the Cambridgeshire Churches website http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/gtwilbraham.htm.
