Twenty CovSoc members were fortunate to have a tour of Temple Balsall on Wednesday 22nd July 2026.
Temple Balsall is a tiny hamlet in rural Warwickshire, with a history and significance far outweighing its size.
It comprises an ancient timber framed hall, a historical Church, an almshouse, now converted into a Care Home, a school and a former manor house now used as the headquarters of the Trust. There are also some farm buildings which we didn’t look around.
The timber frame of the ancient hall still exists beneath a later brick façade. This was one of the ancient buildings that dates back to the time of the Knights Templar. It is now used as a community facility.
Other buildings long disappeared, include dormitories, a tithe barn, a buttery, a kitchen, a bakery, brew house, dovecote and fishponds.
Located in the middle of the lawless Forest of Arden, the centre was a welcome respite for pilgrims and travellers in medieval times. The tradition of hospitality continues today with teas provided by the local community every Sunday.
The Knights Templar came to this site in 1100 AD, to occupy land gifted by Roger de Mowbrey of Hampton in Arden. By 1185 they had a fully developed preceptory here. A preceptory was a local monastic estate and administrative centre. These houses served as bases for training knights, farming, and generating income to support operations in the Holy Land.
The Knights Templar were a military order of armed monks. They were deeply religious and made vows of obedience, poverty and celibacy. They wore a uniform of a white cloak with a red cross. The foundation held land in Jerusalem that had housed Soloman’s Temple, hence the name “templar”.
The knights did not receive a wage, but the Order received huge wealth in the form of land, jewelry and other donations. They were so wealthy that the French king was greatly indebted to them. He was jealous of their autonomy, independence, power and influence in his country and with an early example of fake news he persuaded the Pope to dissolve the order.
Pope Clement V disbanded the order in 1312 and its lands in Warwickshire passed to the Knights Hospitaller.
The Knights Hospitaller were another crusading order, but with a tradition of caring for the sick. They were forerunners of St. John’s Ambulance brigade. Their uniform was a black cape with a white cross.
There are few records of the Knight’s Hospitaller at Temple Balsall. They built a chapel on the site of the current Church in 1338.
Things took a turn for the worse in 1541 when the estate was taken by King Henry VIII. The king’s commissioners removed the lead from the chapel roof and the building rapidly fell into disuse.
The freehold of the estate remained in royal hands being owned by Queen Catherine Parr and was passed to her step daughter, Princess Elizabeth in 1566. As queen, Elizabeth gave the manor to her “friend” Robert Dudley.
Dudley’s granddaughter, Lady Katharine Leveson, inherited the estate. When she died in 1674, her will established a charitable foundation that remains active today. She funded a row of almshouses (known as a “hospital”) for 20 poor widows, along with a local primary school.
Lady Katherine had the chapel restored and brought back into use. It was restored again in 1840 by George Gilbert Scott. This time with a more extensive rebuilding, which did retain some of the original medieval features and materials.
The Church has some fine Victorian and early twentieth century windows. The window at the east end of the church, created in 1907, includes images of both Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller. The Church is endowed with many doors, some fine medieval stone carvings, a green man, Minton floor tiles and a fine organ dating back to 1856.
There is a medieval font, which was removed by Scott and later found in the grounds of one of the estate farmhouses. It was brought back in the 1980s.
We were pleased to be able to visit the almshouses created by Lady Katherine. Her will provided for the construction of a “hospital” for twenty “poor single women of good character” and a schoolroom for twenty boys from the Parish of Balsall.
The occupiers of the almshouses were known as “dames”. They wore a uniform of a grey gown with black shawl and bonnet. They had to obey a set of rules, including attending prayers at least twice a day, helping keep the common areas clean, not leave the premises for more than one day and having to sit with any dying dames. They could be fined if they broke any rules: “not exceeding 1 shilling a week”. They had an allowance of coal, milk and bread, which they collected from the old hall.
The original building was renovated and extended in the 1790s by well known local builder Francis Smith of Warwick. The number of dwellings was increased to 30 and a schoolmaster’s house was later added.
The complex was overseen by a “master”. His duties included looking after the dames, teaching the boys and preaching to the church congregation on Sundays.
Today the almshouses have been converted into a care home, which is still run by the Foundation of Lady Katherine Leveson, whose headquarters are in the adjoining manor house. A new school was built on adjoining land in 1868 and with modernisation is still there today.
If you missed the tour, you can visit during Heritage Open Days on 12th and 13th September. There will be displays and tours and volunteers in historic costume. There is a video about Temple Balsall here.