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Abstract
It is widely believed that a preceptory (house and estate centre) of the Knights Templar was located in the township of Whitley, near Selby, only four miles from another preceptory at Temple Hirst. This article argues that documentary evidence, closely analysed, points to the site of the preceptory being 24 miles further east, at Weedley, near South Cave in the East Riding. The evidence includes references to lands at Wichele or Withele in the Templars’ inquest of 1185, and an inventory detailing possessions of the preceptory of Wythele in 1308. The location of the preceptory is examined alongside the changing organization of the Templars’ estates by the early-fourteenth century. Establishing the correct location of the preceptory is important in understanding more about the relationship between different Templar houses within the county, and highlights the potential for archaeological remains at the site of the preceptory.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to John Henderson for his help in translating the inventory, to Jordan Claridge for his assistance in identifying the descriptions of horses in the inventory, and to Henry Farrar for references to Sherwood Hall. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Sixth International Military Orders Conference at St John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, London, in September 2013 and I am grateful to participants for their helpful comments.