15. PRECEPTORY OF GREAT WILBRAHAM
Robert the Chamberlain gave to the cell at
Denney the ninth sheaf in his manor at Wilbraham and the church there. (fn. 1) When Denney had
become a preceptory of the Templars, Great Wilbraham Church remained appropriated to the
maintenance of the sick at Denney (fn. 2) even after the
foundation of a preceptory in its own parish,
though the Preceptor of Wilbraham was responsible for an annual payment of 40s. in augmentation of the stipend assigned to the vicar c. 1240. (fn. 3)
In 1226 Peter Malauney granted to Brother
Alan Martel, Master of the Temple in England,
all that he held of the king in Wilbraham: (fn. 4) in
1237 mention appears in the Pipe Roll of lands
given to the Templars in Wilbraham to the value
of £15, which Peter 'de Malo Alneto' held. This
seems to represent the three-quarters of a moiety
of the manor, which Henry III gave to Hubert
de Burgh and which Hubert exchanged to the
Templars for land elsewhere. (fn. 5) Henry III gave a
piece of woodland called Kingswood in Carlton, (fn. 6)
and a manor of Carlton is subsequently found in
the Templars' hands. (fn. 7) In 1279 there were thirteen free tenants in Wilbraham holding of the
knights, (fn. 8) and in 1298, when Edward I was
buying up wool just before his truce with France,
John Porthors of Cambridge, and others, the king's
buyers, paid £15 3s. 4d. to Richard Peytevyn,
Preceptor of Wilbraham, for 3½ bales of wool. (fn. 9)
This Richard Peytevyn was, in 1308, arrested
at Dinsley, where he had originally been received
into the Order by Humbert Peraut, the master in
England, at the chapter of 1266, together with
William de la Forde and Thomas of Toulouse. (fn. 10)
Whereas Peytevyn had been a Templar for 42
years, the two brethren arrested at Wilbraham had
both had comparatively short service in the Order.
William de Thorp, who is described as custos, not
preceptor, had been received by the Grand Preceptor of Yorkshire 6 or 7 years before in the
chapel at Foulbridge. (fn. 11) William Raven had been
received by William de la More, the arrested
master, at Templecombe, together with a knight
of the Order, since dead; although about 100
seculars were present there were only 2 brethren
there, of whom one, John de Walpole, serviens
literatus, afterwards instructed him for a month
in the Rule. He had made no other formal profession after this reception, and he had spent the
whole of the 5 years which had elapsed since it
took place at Wilbraham. (fn. 12)
With the preceptory of Wilbraham John Creke
took over the manor in Carlton and the churches
of Great Wilbraham and Wendy. (fn. 13) The house of
the preceptory seems to have been a small manorhouse, very simply furnished, and the only ornaments of the chapel were a vestment, with towels,
worth a mark, and one silver chalice, together with
the necessary books: (fn. 14) in the chest, for transmission to the master, was £4. The most elaborate
fittings in the house seem to have been those for
dairying, with presses for cheese, a churn, a large
fixed cauldron for heating milk, and other utensils.
On 21 December 1313 the manors of Wilbraham and Duxford and the churches of Great
Wilbraham and Wendy were handed over to
Brother William de Sauston of the Hospital of St.
John of Jerusalem. Carlton was lost to the Hospital
for a time, but in 1338 the Hospitallers held there
144 acres, worth 6d. an acre, 34 acres of meadow
and pasture worth 12d. an acre, a little wood
which yielded 10s. in profits, and stock which
yielded £4. (fn. 15)