HOUSE OF KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS
18. THE PRECEPTORY OF ANSTY
The manor of Ansty was granted to the order
of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem by Walter de Turberville in 1210-11. (fn. 1) But
the terms of his grant did not satisfy the prior of
the Order because he failed to warrant the manor
or to acquit it of scutage. After some years of
litigation a settlement was reached in 1220, under
which Walter was to pay the prior 9 marks which
had been charged on the manor in the interval. (fn. 2)
The Order was to hold the manor of Walter and
his heirs for ever, paying an annual rent of £12,
but the prior still had to distrain for his 9 marks. (fn. 3)
In 1236 another virgate in Ansty was acquired
from Robert de Stafford, (fn. 4) and in 1242-3 the
Knights held 1 fee there of Robert de Stainton. (fn. 5)
In 1251 they had a grant of free warren in this
manor amongst others. (fn. 6) Henceforth the manor
was always returned as being 1 knight's fee. (fn. 7) For
the Hospitallers this was a comparatively large
holding, and a natural place to establish a preceptory. This was certainly done before 1281, when
the Preceptor, Walter de Permort, came into conflict with the hospital of St. Nicholas at Salisbury.
This hospital drew an annual pension of 5 marks
from the church of Ansty. The pension was payable by the Knights as early as 1245, and continued to be paid in the 17th century, long after
they had departed. (fn. 8) Before 1275 the Hospitallers
of Ansty had an annual rent of 12d. in Salisbury,
given to them by John de Mulecote, (fn. 9) and the
preceptory also came to hold lands in Swallowcliffe, and in 1333 undertook to find a chaplain
to celebrate in the church there in return for 40
acres given to them by Thomas West. (fn. 10)
It is probable that the preceptory had a continuous history of 300 years, but only on one
occasion during that period is it possible to get a
glimpse of it. This is in 1338 when it was included
in the survey of the Hospitallers' lands. (fn. 11) Then
there was a manor-house at Ansty with a garden,
dovecote, and watermill. The demesne lands were
worth £25, whilst rents produced £18 and the
court 1 mark. The lands could maintain 900
sheep. The church was worth £6 after the pension
to St. Nicholas's Hospital had been paid. The small
holding at Swallowcliffe, comprising 1 messuage
and 36 acres of land and pasture, produced £2 a
year. Altogether the revenue of the preceptory
was £93. Of this sum £40 was required to maintain the household at Ansty in food and clothing,
and to entertain the prior of the Order for three
days. So that rather more than half the revenue
was available for the central treasury of the Order.
The household at Ansty consisted of the Preceptor, then Brother John Dyngeland, John de Wyncestre, a Knight of the Order, and William West,
who occupied the place of another Knight. With
them were 1 corrodian, a chaplain, 3 clerks, the
preceptor's squire, and 6 servants, making a total
of 15 persons.
Two hundred years later, in 1534, the income
of the preceptory was said to be almost exactly the
same, £90, or £81 after the deduction of the pension to St. Nicholas's Hospital and the wages of
the bailiff, (fn. 12) but in the year 1540-1 the king's
receiver accounted for only £38 1s. 7d., of which
sum £30 was derived from the manor of Ansty.
The remainder was produced by small parcels of
land situated in 28 different places, almost all in
Wiltshire. (fn. 13) In the same year the possessions of the
preceptory were granted to John Zouche. (fn. 14) The
Order was revived in England by Queen Mary,
and all the scattered lands were once more listed
as the possessions of Ansty. (fn. 15) The commandery
was pulled down in the reign of Elizabeth I, but
the guest house near the church survived until
1927, when it was burnt out. A water-colour
drawing of this building by J. Buckler in 1817 is
preserved in the William Salt Library at Stafford. (fn. 16)
Preceptors of Ansty
Walter de Permort, occurs 1281. (fn. 17)
Reynold de Segrave, occurs 1326. (fn. 18)
John Dyngeland, occurs 1338. (fn. 19)
Cuthbert Leighton, occurs 1534. (fn. 20)