Rod Collins

Temple Bruer is one of the few Knight Templar preceptories still standing in Great Britain and is one of the most exciting historic places in Lincolnshire.
I’ve made a return journey not only for my own pleasure and to soak up the atmosphere of the place but also to bring you an extensive range of pictures of the inside

Temple Bruer in Lincolnshire was an important site for the Knights Templar and though most of it no longer remains the tower, built circa 1200, is still there and open to the public.
I made a general trip and posted accordingly the last time I went to Temple Bruer but this one should put a little more flesh on the bones so to speak.

To the left you’ll see the remaining tower of the preceptory standing in all its glory and further down pretty much all the aspects to be seen inside.
The original site design owed, I believe, a great deal to something I’m currently reading about - Sacred Geometry - with this complex originally designed along the lines of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The person responsible for the donation and founding of the site was William Lord of Ashby de-la-Launde. He was not an active knight but joined the Templars as a ‘pensioner’. I suppose this was almost like an old age insurance policy, the donation of land and wealth in exchange for membership of the Knights Templar and surety of security and comfort in his old age.

There are Knights Templar connections to the other following area, towns and villages in Lincolnshire
Willoughton - Eagle - South Witham
Aslackby - East Mere
Nearly all are in the Kesteven area.

There was a huge Templar interest in farming around here, they held some 10,000 acres I believe, and a big stake in the wool trade.
there were a number of legal disputes between other landowners as to who exactly owned what.
The arrest of the Templars saw the site fall into other with the Duke of Suffolk buying it from henry VIII at the time of the Dissolution.

The Ceiling on the Upper Floor

The Top Floor of the Tower

Above you’ll see the nicely restored vaulted ceiling to the top floor of the tower and the wall, window and cornicing detail.
Access is via a narrow winding ’spiral style’ stone carved staircase

Left-Hand Back Corner

Right-Hand Corner and Stairway

Above right picture shows the entrance to the staircase mentioned above and is straight to your right as you walk in through the heavy wooden door to the tower. The other shot shows you the back wall and left hand corner - both shots are on the ground floor.
You’ll notice the pile of dressed stone in the corner, these are believed to be from one of the original pillars that supported the roof of the main church. The wall area shown contains various stone carvings carvings and graffiti both new and contemporaneous

Tomb Lid

Above is a tomb or carved tomb lid, sadly it’s too worn to see whether it is actually a knight or not but an amazing thing to look at non the less. Just around it you’ll see the stone benches on which Templar Knights actually have sat !

Arcading

The above shows you the arcading to the left wall as you walk in, the stone effigy tomb is immediate below this, the corner to the back wall and bottom very right of picture a hint of the doorway to the spiral staircase - just gives you some idea of the size - smaller than you might imagine

The Left-Hand Wall

Above is the wall you’d see to your left as you walk in, some very interesting carved stone and also some period etchings, symbols and ‘graffiti’ on the stone walls

A Runic Symbol to Ward Off Evil

Detailing on the Outside Wall

To the left you’ll see on of the very early symbols carved into the stone, as mentioned on the left-hand wall and to the right a shot taken outside showing the detail around a ‘window’ or opening.
I feel the site has a great deal more to offer up yet and would relish the idea of some modern in-depth archaeology on and around the site.
It has been looked at before but would really benefit from modern techniques, accuracy and wisdom I feel.

The site really does warrant not only visiting but a great deal more attention than it gets, no doubt were it in another county it would be better thought of, investigated and promoted.
This article could go on a great deal more and I could professionally bore for England on it but I don’t think it’s necessary.
Those well versed in the subject will gain nothing from it and I feel there is just enough here to give those curious an insight and a look around.

It is open to the public but is actually on private farmland so please do show the greatest of respect to both the building and the land around should you decide to visit - thank you.

As always comments are very much welcomed so if you’ve visited the site, know anything of it or just have opinions and comments in general please do share them
Thank You
Preceptorally Yours
Rod