HOUSE OF KNIGHTS TEMPLARS
28. THE PRECEPTORY OF CRESSING
The manor of Cressing with the advowson
of the church was granted to the Knights
Templars by Maud, queen of Stephen and
heiress of the counts of Boulogne, by a charter
dated at Evreux in 1136, and confirmed to them
by a charter of Stephen near the close of his
reign. The same king and queen and their son,
count Eustace of Boulogne, also granted to them
the manor and half-hundred of Witham by
charters which are witnessed by Gilbert, earl of
Pembroke, and can therefore be assigned to the
years 1138-1148. The church of Witham
was, however, excepted, having been previously
granted to the church of St. Martin-le-Grand,
London. This preceptory, which is generally
spoken of as Cressing, but sometimes as Cressing
and Witham, was therefore among the very
earliest of the possessions of the military orders
in England. It is placed first in the detailed
list (fn. 1) of the lands of the Templars, with the names
of donors and of tenants, which was drawn up
in 1185.
Stephen granted to the Templars a market at
Witham as it had been held in the reign of
Henry I; and Henry II confirmed the grant.
John on 16 July, 1199, confirmed to them the
manor of Witham with the half-hundred and
market and various liberties. He confirmed to
them the land of Berecholt on 14 July, 1199,
and the land of Newland on 8 June, 1214; and
on 23 September, 1213, he granted a market on
Thursday and a fair of three days at the
Decollation of St. John the Baptist at the new
town of Wulnesforde in the parish of Witham.
Peter de Rossa, parson of Rivenhall and lord
of the manor, who assumed the dress of the
Templars a little before his death in 1255, (fn. 2)
granted to them over a hundred acres of land in
Rivenhall; and in return they maintained a
chaplain to pray for his soul in their free chapel
at Witham. They also maintained three chaplains to pray for the souls of other benefactors in
their chapel at Cressing; the first celebrating on
three days of the week for John de Staundone
and on four days for the founders, the counts of
Boulogne, the second for Peter de Toppesfeld,
and the third for Peter the clerk.
Under Edward II the Templars were suppressed (fn. 3) and their possessions given to the
Hospitallers. By inquisitions taken on 20 April,
1309, it was found that the manor of Witham
was worth in all £40 10s. 11d. yearly, from
which deductions were made of 9d. for rents
and £4 6s. 8d. for the chaplain and chapel, so
that the net value was £36 3s. 6d. They had
there a market on Tuesdays and fairs at the feasts
of St. Laurence and the Decollation of St. John
the Baptist. The hundred of Witham was
worth 100s. yearly. The manor of Cressing
was worth £43 16s. 9d. yearly, with a net value
of £29 12s. 9d., the deductions including 5 marks
for each of the three chaplains, 20s. for lamps
and wax candles for the chapel, and 52s. for
alms. The chapel was dedicated to St. Mary,
and there was a cemetery attached to it. In
consequence of this change of ownership the
charters and other documents relating to Cressing
and Witham are entered in the chartulary (fn. 4) of the
Hospital.
An inventory of the goods, cattle and crops at
Cressing and Witham was taken on 13 May,
1313. (fn. 5)
In the report (fn. 6) of the possessions of the Hospital
in England made by Prior Philip de Thame to
the Grand Master in 1338, a full account is
given of Cressing. There was there a manor
with a garden worth 13s. 4d. yearly, a dovecote
worth 5s., rents there and at Witham amounting
to £60, 800 acres of land worth £33 6s. 8d.,
pasture for 20 oxen and 12 cows worth 64s.,
and pasture for 600 sheep worth 50s.; at Witham,
a messuage with a garden and a dovecote worth
20s. and 400 acres of land worth £16 13s. 4d.;
at Rivenhall, 120 acres of land worth 60s. and
40 acres of meadow worth £4; pleas and perquisites of courts worth 60s.; profits of underwood worth 40s.; and 120 acres of land at
Little Cressing worth £4. The yearly profits
thus amounted to £133 12s. 4d.
The expenses consisted of £6 6s. for 42
quarters of wheat for baking bread, 32s. 9d. for
9 quarters and 6 bushels of meslin, 52s. for 26
quarters of malt for brewing ale, £7 16s. for the
expenses of the kitchen, £3 9s. 4d. for robes,
mantles, and other necessaries of the warden and
brother, 40s. for the robe and fee of the steward
prosecuting the business of the house, 40s. for
the robes of the baker, cook, and claviger, and
one mark each for their stipends, 21s. 4d. for the
stipends of two grooms at half a mark and two
pages at 4s. each, 40s. at the visitation of the
prior for two days, 60s. for the stipends of three
chaplains, 60s. for the repair of the houses,
10s. 3d. for oil, wax and wine and other neces
saries for the chapel, and 20s. for the repair of
five mills. The total of the expenses was thus
£40 5s. 8d., so that 140 marks remained to be
paid into the treasury. Hugh de Cumberton,
chaplain, was warden and William the tenor of
Ripon, chaplain, the brother.
The prior of the Hospital was one of the chief
persons upon whom the popular vengeance was
wreaked in the insurrection of the peasants in
1381; and so it is not surprising to find that
Cressing suffered. In the assize taken after the
insurrection the jurors found (fn. 7) that a number of
people attacked Cressing Temple on 10 June,
Monday the morrow of Holy Trinity, and carried
away armour, vestments, gold and silver, and
other goods to the value of £20, and burned
books to the value of 20 marks.
The manors of Witham and Temple Cressing
were leased by the Hospital to John Edmonde
for twenty-four years from Michaelmas, 1515,
and to John Smyth for twenty-nine years from
Michaelmas, 1539. He was to find a secular
priest to minister within the chapel of each
manor on three days in the week. (fn. 8)
The Hospital was dissolved in 1540, soon after
the last monasteries, and on 8 July, 1541, the
king granted (fn. 9) the manor and lordship of Temple
Cressing and the half-hundred of Witham to
Sir William Huse and John Smyth, one of the
barons of the Exchequer, and the heirs and
assigns of John.
Preceptors Of Cressing
William del Estre, in 1255. (fn. 10)
Roger de Norreis, in 1309. (fn. 11)
Hugh de Cumberton, in 1338. (fn. 12)
John Bertelby, in 1375. (fn. 13)
John Luterell, in 1381. (fn. 14)