Description :

If these two Orders of knights and the county of Herefordshire are mentioned in the same breath, then surely Garway and Dinmore might follow in the next as they were the main Templar and Hospitaller houses in the county.

Garway certainly has the most substantial Templar remains in the church tower, the ‘saracenic’ chancel arch within the church, the remains of the round nave outside and the old columbarium in the adjacent farm buildings. Dinmore eventually became totally responsible for the properties of both Orders in the counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire when the Templar possessions passed to the Hospitallers early in the 14th century. Yet Callow, Harewood, Hereford (in connection with both Orders), Rowlestone, Sutton St. Michael, Upleadon, Welsh Newton and Wormbridge all played their part in supporting the knights and might not come to mind at all.

How the the Orders obtain these properties? What was their function and how were they managed? How were they used to promote the work of the Orders in England and in the Holy Land? What happened to the properties of the Templars when the Order was disbanded in the early 1300s ?

This booklet details what is known about the two Orders’ possessions in Herefordshire and answers these and other questions, providing a brief history of the knights and delving into the grants of land and property in the county. It also discusses issues such as right of sanctuary, the honesty of the bookkeepers and quality of the estate staff in general.