HOUSE OF KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS
33. THE PRECEPTORY OF BATTISFORD
There was a preceptory or hospital of the
Knights of St. John at Battisford at least as
early as the reign of Henry II, for that king gave
lands at Bergholt to the Hospitallers of Battisford. (fn. 1) Henry III, in 1271, granted these
knights a market, a fair, and free warren on
their lands at Battisford. (fn. 2) William de Batesford gave them, in 1275, 40 acres of land and 6
of wood; at the same time they had a grant from
Henry Kede of Battisford of a certain messuage
with the customary service pertaining thereto. (fn. 3)
Brother John de Accoumbe, preceptor of the
house of the hospital of Battisford, together with
two other brothers who were being sent by the
grand prior to Scotland on business of the order,
in April, 1321, obtained a safe-conduct for two
years. (fn. 4)
That remarkable source of information as to
the knights hospitallers in England in the reign
of Edward II, namely the report of Prior Philip
de Thame, in 1338, to the Grand Master of the
whole order, is very explicit with regard to the
Suffolk preceptory. (fn. 5)
The bailiwick or preceptory of Battisford had
two members or 'camerae' attached to it,
namely those of Coddenham and Mellis. The
total receipts for the year 1338 amounted to
£93 10s. 7d. Half the church of Battisford
was appropriated to the hospitallers, and was
worth 10 marks a year, whilst the rectory of
Badley produced £10 a year.
By far the largest source of income was 'de
Fraria
(fn. 6)
ad voluntatem contribuentium,' which
produced that year the large round sum of £50.
There were messuages (houses) with gardens
at both Coddenham and Mellis, in each case
valued at 3s., with arable and other lands and
rents, and in the case of Coddenham a windmill;
the total receipts of the former were £10 5s. 8d.
and of the latter £4 3s. 1d.
The expenses enable us at once to see that
the chief local charges on the income were those
of maintenance and hospitality. Following the
general rule, it is found that there was (1) a
preceptor or master of the house, Richard de
Bachesworth, who acted as receiver and who
was himself a knight; (2) a confrater or brother,
William de Conesgrave, also a knight; (3) a
salaried chaplain at 20s.; and (4) a corrodian,
one Simon Paviner, who in return for certain
benefactions had board and lodging at the house.
In addition to these there were of the household a chamberlain, a steward, a cook, a baker,
each receiving 6s. 8d. a year, two youths at 5s.
each, and a page at 3s.
The board for all these, in addition to the hospitality they were bound to extend to visitors,
particularly the poor, caused an expenditure of
£7 4s. in wheat and oats for bread; £3 4s. for
barley for brewing; and £7 16s. at the rate of
3s. a week, for fish, flesh, and other necessaries
for the kitchen. The robes, mantles, and other
necessaries for preceptor and brother cost
£3 9s. 4d. The three days' visit of the prior of
Clerkenwell, the mother-house of the order in
England, caused an expenditure of 60s. The
total outlay for the year was £33 3s. 10d.,
leaving the handsome balance of £60 0s. 10d.
to be handed over to the general treasury.
There were two other small sources of income
for the Hospitallers from this county, in 1338,
which were paid direct to Clerkenwell, namely
10 marks from Dunwich, of which the particulars are given elsewhere, and 5s. from Gislingham, being the yearly rent of a life lease of much
waste property in that parish. In both cases
these estates had originally pertained to the
Templars. (fn. 7) The value of the property of this
bailiwick deteriorated after the Black Death.
The Valor of 1538 gave its clear income as
£52 16s. 2d. (fn. 8)
After the dissolution of the order, Henry VIII
granted this preceptory in July, 1543, to Andrew
Judde, alderman of London. (fn. 9) In the following
September he obtained licence to alienate it, (fn. 10)
and on 18 April, 1544, it was granted to Sir
Richard Gresham. (fn. 11)
Preceptors of Battisford
John de Accoumbe, (fn. 12) occurs 1321
Richard de Bachesworth, (fn. 13) occurs 1328
Henry Haler, (fn. 14) died 1480
Giles Russel, (fn. 15)
c. 1530