14. PRECEPTORY OF DUXFORD
The 'Temple' at Duxford appears to have been
established on land given by a member of the
Colville family. At the chapter of the Templars
held in London at Easter 1273 Guy de Foresta,
the master, granted a lease of certain lands in
Pampisford, the rent to be paid in the 'House of
the Temple in Duxworth'. The seal bears the
device of the Paschal Lamb, with the words
TEMPL. DOKSFORTH, and the first witnesses were
Brother Walter de Wilbraham and Brother Baldwin de Akeny. (fn. 1) This is the earliest direct reference to the preceptory which has been found.
In 1276 it was reported that the fee of Colville
which the Templars now held used to owe suit,
but that exemption was now claimed for it, (fn. 2) and in
1279 that the Templars had a demesne manor at
Duxford with 4 hides and 20 acres of land which
they held of Roger Colville in alms. (fn. 3)
John Mohun, Preceptor of Duxworth, was
arrested with the rest of the Templars in the
county on 10 January 1308. (fn. 4) At the time there
seems to have been no brother with him, and he
was probably the sole professed member of the
house, for John Creke found only one bed, with
its furnishings, in the chamber, and this he valued
at the preceptor's rate of 20s. (fn. 5) There is no mention in the sheriff's account of the secular chaplain
with whose stipend of 5 marks the house, according to Philip de Thame, (fn. 6) had been charged by the
founders. The office may have been vacant at
the time, since the books and ornaments of the
chapel (fn. 7) were sent to Cambridge Castle, and
Mohun was charged at his trial with having
spoken contemptuously of the immortality of the
soul—perhaps in excuse for this neglect of the
chantry. There were fifteen dependants, of whom
the majority were outdoor servants, the others
being the preceptor's secular squire or groom, a
reeve, porter, and cook. The buildings consisted
of a hall and chamber with buttery and bakehouse.
In the preceptory chest, probably for transmission
to the grand master, was a sum of £4 13s. 4d. in
cash. House, garden, and movables together were
valued at £18 10s. 8d. With the chapel fittings,
the clothing and bedding of the preceptor were
sent to Cambridge Castle, and the chapel gear was
retained in the charge of the Sheriff there when
the preceptor's 'harness' was sent to the Constable
of the Tower of London for his personal use on
his transference thither as a prisoner. On 3 June
1309 Duxford, with Denney, was committed
to Master Roger of Wingfield who, in 1310, was
appointed keeper of all the Templars' lands in
England, (fn. 8) and it apparently remained in Wingfield's hands until November 1313.
Mohun had been 38 years in religion: he had
nothing to say about the details of admission or
funeral rites. He was, however, the object of the
only damaging piece of outside evidence recorded
against a Cambridgeshire Templar. An Austin
Friar, William de Bernay, said that 'he had heard
some brother of the Temple at Duxford beside
Cambridge in Ely diocese, whose name he knew
not (but he believed it was the preceptor of that
place), say that no man had a soul after death any
more than a dog'. (fn. 9)
On 21 December 1313 John le Clerk of Wilbraham accounted for the manor of Duxford with
that of Wilbraham when he handed both preceptories over to Brother William de Sauston, for the
usè of the Knight Hospitallers. (fn. 10) In 1338 Duxford was in the charge of a bailiff, (fn. 11) but it never
became a preceptory or even a camera of the
Hospital, though it maintained sufficient independent existence in 1338 to be subject to the formal
visitation of the prior and was charged with 20s.
for his entertainment for one day. (fn. 12) The stipend
of the bailiff at that date was 40s. and the wages
of the farm-servants 16s.; the chaplain received
5 marks. During the Peasants' Rising in 1381,
on Saturday, 15 June, the band under Hanchach
on the way to attack Shingay, turned aside to
Duxford and sacked the manor of the Prior of St.
John of Jerusalem there. (fn. 13)