Temple Balsall

Church of St Mary

Temple Balsall otherwise Balsall is a hamlet and civil parish in Warwickshire, situated between the large villages of Knowle and Balsall Common. The civil parish corresponds to the chapelry in the ancient parish of Hampton-in-Arden.

It is named after, and dates from the time of, the Knights Templar. They farmed about 650 acres of the estate in the 12th century, and established Balsall Preceptory where a number of brothers lived and ran the estate. After the Order was suppressed, the estate was given to the Knights Hospitaller of St John. They lost it when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries and Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth I gave the estate to Robert Dudley. The 13th-century church and Old Hall, and 17th-century almshouses survive.

Robert Dudley's granddaughter, Lady Katharine Leveson of Trentham Hall, Staffordshire, inherited the estate. On her death in 1674, Lady Leveson left endowments for almshouses, the Lady Katharine Leveson primary school and the local church.

References

• Loctation map: 52°22’55"N, 1°41’49"W

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