Details
TEMPLE BRUER with TEMPLE BRUER
TF 05 SW TEMPLE HIGH GRANGE
3/59 Church Tower to the north
of Temple Farmhouse
1.2.67
GV I
Church tower. Early C13, restored early C20. Limestone ashlar, with a plain tile
hipped roof with deeply overhanging eaves. Moulded chamfered plinth. 4-stage
square tower, once attached to other buildings, on the north and west. North
front has a central doorway with 7 steps leading up to it, this double chamfered,
round-arched door surround has moulded imposts, and the outer arch is supported on
chamfered corbels, the whole surmounted by a hood. To the left a rectangular
chamfered opening, with 2 chamfered, pointed blind arches above with hoods, linked
above by a chamfered band. At the right corner a tall triple shafted respond with
moulded bases and capitals, with above the remnants of 3 chamfered ribs. Above
the doorway, a chamfered corbel with moulded capital and the remnants of 3 cham-
fered ribs. Above a chamfered band. Above at the left a corner projecting strip
buttress supported on a moulded bracket. Above again a chamfered eaves band.
East front has strip buttresses and bands, the first stage is blank, the second
and third stages have single double chamfered lancets with hoods. The fourth
stage has a single double chamfered opening. South front has strip buttresses and
bands, with a very tall window which spans the first and second stages, this
2-light, pointed moulded chamfered window is now partly blocked with rubble, and
the remnants of tracery in the arch. Above a single double chamfered lancet and a
hood. Above again a single light double chamfered opening. Above again, at the
eaves, an unusually moulded band. West front has a single strip buttress at the
right, the first stage is blank, the second and third stages have single, double
chamfered lancets with hoods, and above a band. The fourth stage has a single
light double chamfered opening. To the left is an upper projecting strip buttress
supported on a moulded bracket. Above the south-west corner is a small remnant of
the original battlements. The west front also bears the scars of 2 former roof
lines. This tower is all that now remains of the Knights Templars Preceptory,
founded late in the reign of Henry II by William of Ashby, it passed in 1312,
after the suppression of this order, to the Order of the Knights of St John of
Jerusalem. It was finally dissolved in 1538. The present tower was one of a pair
which once stood to the east of the original circular church, joined by a presby-
tery and later chapel. The foundations of these long demolished structures were
uncovered by W H St John Hope, when the site was excavated in 1908. Parts of
these structures are visible in Samuel Buck's engraving of the ruins in 1726.
Sources: "The Round Church of the Knights Templars at Temple Bruer, Lincolnshire"
by W H St John Hope: ARCHAEOLOGIA vol.61, 1908, pp.177-198. This building is also
scheduled as an Ancient Monument, Lincs County No 43.
Listing NGR: TF0085153709
