RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



Of the preceptors only two names appear 

 to have survived. William de Garew^yz was 

 preceptor of Wetherby in, or a little before, 

 1293,'' and Richard de Keswik, or Chesewyk, 

 who was admitted to the order at Faxfleet in 

 1 290,*" became preceptor of Ribston about 1 298^^ 

 and still held that post in 1308 when he was 

 arrested, with Richard de Brakearp, claviger, 

 and Henry de Craven, a brother in residence at 

 Ribston.^2 



73. THE PRECEPTORY OF TEMPLE 

 COWTON 



Cowton was one of the three estates of the 

 Templars to which Roger Mowbray, about 

 1142, granted timber for building purposes.'" 

 But in 1 1 85 the 6 carucates in ' Cutun,' said 

 to have been given by Robert Cambord (?), were 

 returned under Newsam.*^ The manor of 

 Kirkby was given to the Templars by Baldwin 

 Wake,*^ and the estates belonging to the pre- 

 ceptory were worth about ;^ioo at the time of 

 their seizure in 1308.*^ The preceptory at that 

 time consisted of hall, chamber, chapel, kitchen, 

 brewhouse, and smithy. In the chapel were two 

 hanging bells worth 26s. and two hand-bells 

 worth I2d., and in the chamber was a sealed 

 chest containing ' all the charters of the Temple 

 of Scotland together with various charters of 

 certain estates in England.' *' 



At the time of its suppression the community 

 at Cowton consisted of John de Walpole, the pre- 

 ceptor, Henry de Rerby, claviger, and Roger de 

 Thresk.*8 



74. THE PRECEPTORY OF TEMPLE 

 HIRST 



This preceptory originated in the grant of the 

 manor of Hirst in Birkin made in 11 52 by 

 Ralph Hastings to the order, of which his 

 brother Richard was grand master.*' Henry 

 Lacy, Ralph's superior lord, confirmed this grant 

 and another by Henry Vernoil of land at Potter- 

 law."" Other grants followed, including the 

 church of Kellington, given by Henry Lacy.°^ 

 They had also a chapel at Norton, and a chapel 



" Assize R. i loi, m. 62. 

 *" Wilkins, op. cit. 372. " Ibid. 377. 



" yorks. Arch. Joum. x, 432. 

 " Ibid, viii, 259. 



** Exch. K.R. Misc. Bks. xvi, fol. 60. 

 " Dngdale, loc. cit. ; Torks. Fines, John (Surt. Soc), 

 1 60-1. 



" Exch. Anct. Extents, 18, no. 16. " Ibid. 



" Torks. Arch. Journ. x, 432. 



" Dugdale, loc. cit. 



•° Worsfold, Haddlesey Past and Present, 11, 12. 



" rorks. Arch. Joum. x, 280. 



must have been built at Hirst before 1185, as 

 40 acres in Fen wick were given prior to that 

 date by Jordan Foliot for the support of a chaplain 

 at Hirst." Adam of Newmarket stipulated 

 that one penny should be paid to the chapel of 

 the Temple at Hirst to light the altar of the 

 Blessed Mary on the Feast of her Assumption, 

 and at the suppression of the order in 1308 we 

 have an account of the furniture of the chapel, 

 which included two chalices, one silver and one 

 gilt, a cross, a pyx, a censer, some half-a-dozen 

 service books and a few vestments."' 



When the Templars' lands were seized in 

 1308, Sir John Cropping, the sheriff, made a 

 return which showed the total value of this 

 preceptory to have been £6^ 15J. 2^d., of 

 which sum the church of Kellington accounted 

 for rather more than half. At Temple Hirst 

 were some 200 acres of land, and the preceptory 

 itself, of which considerable remains still exist, 

 consisted of a hall, chapel, kitchen, larder, and 

 outbuildings. 



At the time of the trial of the Templars, 

 Master John de Nassington, the archbishop's 

 official, deposed that Sir Miles Stapleton and 

 Sir Adam Everingham had told him that they 

 were once invited with other knights to a banquet 

 given by the preceptor of York at Temple Hirst 

 and that when there they were told that many 

 of the brethren had come to that place for a 

 solemn feast at which they were accustomed to 

 worship a calf." Sir Miles Stapleton, who 

 figures in this story, made a grant to the Tem- 

 plars in 1302, and effected an exchange of lands 

 with them as late as 1304." Five years later 

 he had charge of the estates belonging to the 

 preceptory, then in the hands of the Crown. 



Little is known of the preceptors of Temple 

 Hirst ; Robert Piron was preceptor at the time of 

 Henry Vernoil's grant, and Ivo de Etton, who 

 occurs elsewhere as Ivo de Houghton,'^ was 

 preceptor in 1308, when he was arrested to- 

 gether with Adam de Crake, * claviger.' "' 



75. THE PRECEPTORY OF TEMPLE 



NEWSAM 



The date of the foundation of this preceptory 

 is uncertain, but it arose from the grant of land 

 in Newsam, Skelton, Chorlton, and Whitkirk 

 made to the Templars by William de Villiers, 

 who died in 1181. This grant was confirmed 

 by Henry Lacy, who at the same time stipulated 

 that the brethren should return the estate of 

 Newbond which he had previously given them."' 

 It is possible, therefore, that the Templars had 



.433- 



"Ibid. 281. ''Ibid. 



" Wilkins, op. cit. 358. 



" Torks. Arch. Joum. x, 285. 



"' Ibid. 439. " Ibid. 432. 



" Dugdale, op. cit. vi, 840. 



259 



