Baddesley Preceptory was 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 ...

of the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

North Baddesley North Baddesley is a large village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It is situated east of the town of Romsey and north of Southampton. It occupies an area of approximately , and is home to a population of just over 10,000 people, reduc ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The preceptory was founded at Godsfield but was moved soon after the

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

Foundation

Land in Godsfield,

was first granted to the Hospitallers by

Henry of Blois Henry of Blois ( c. 1096 8 August 1171), often known as Henry of Winchester, was Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey from 1126, and Bishop of Winchester from 1129 to his death. He was the son of Stephen II, Count of Blois and Adela of Normandy, a yo ...

, Bishop of

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

in the time of King John and in 1207 further land there was given by Adam de Port. There were further grants of land in

Preston Candover Preston Candover is a village and large civil parish in Hampshire, England. It has two churches, only one of which is still in use. Its nearest town is Basingstoke, approximately away. It has an acreage of , which lies on comparatively low gro ...

and Child Candover. It is not known when a preceptory was first formed, but it was prior to 1304.

12th to 16th centuries

By 1355 the preceptory had moved to Baddesley, although it was still sometimes called Godsfield. The establishment was small with only the

Preceptor 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 ...

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

and four

servant A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...

s. They held managed land and buildings in several places in Hampshire, including Godsfield, Baddesley, Rownham and the former

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

possessions at

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

Dissolution

The Valor of 1535 lists the annual value of the preceptory as £131 14s. 1d.. It was suppressed in 1540 and the lands were granted first to

Sir Thomas Seymour Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, KG, PC (20 March 1549) was a brother of Jane Seymour, the third wife of King Henry VIII. With his brother, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector of England, he vied for control o ...

, and later, in 1551, to

Sir Nicholas Throckmorton Sir Nicholas Throckmorton (or Throgmorton; c. 1515/151612 February 1571) was an English diplomat and politician, who was an ambassador to France and later Scotland, and played a key role in the relationship between Elizabeth I of England ...

Present day

The 14th century

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

and priest's house at Godsfield survive. Nothing remains of the preceptory at

, the site being occupied by the 18th century Baddesley Manor.

References

{{Reflist
"House of Knights Hospitallers: Preceptory of Baddesley or Godsfield"
''A History of the County of Hampshire'', volume 2, The Victoria County History, 1973. History of Hampshire Monasteries in Hampshire Preceptories of the Knights Hospitaller in England 13th-century establishments in England 1540 disestablishments in England Christian monasteries established in the 13th century