HOUSES OF KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS
11. THE PRECEPTORY OF FRIAR MAYNE
It cannot exactly be stated when the preceptory
of Friar Mayne was erected, though there is ample
evidence that the Knights Hospitallers possessed
property here and at West Knighton early in the
reign of Edward I. (fn. 1) Thus it is reported among
the inquisitions returned 3 Edward I that Thomas
del Boys gave to the hospital of St. John of
Jerusalem land in Kyngeston or Knighton which
used to do suit and service at the hundred court,
and that this service valued at 2s. had been withdrawn by the prior and brethren. (fn. 2) In 1290 the
prior of the order obtained from Edward I a
charter of free warren in all the demesne lands
of his manor of Mayne, (fn. 3) and in the Taxatio of
1291 he is said to have had a portion out of the
church of Knighton. (fn. 4)
The preceptory was founded some time between then and the year 1338, when full
particulars of the bailiwick of Mayne are given in
the return made of the possessions of the Hospitallers of England to the Grand Master of the
Order by Philip de Thame, provincial prior of
England. The 'bajulia de Maine' with its
members Knighton and Waye was valued at
144 marks, 2s. 10d.; (fn. 5) the outgoings amounted
to 63 marks 5s. 4d., and included ordinary expenses of the household with the exercise of
hospitality, a duty much enjoined on all members
of the order—£8 14s.; a life-corrody to Sir Robert
de Norfolk at the table of the brethren, a robe
and his necessaries, 27s.; the kitchen, £7 16s.;
the brewing of the beer, £5 14s. 2d.; robes,
mantles, and other necessaries for the preceptor
and his brother knight, 69s. 4d.; for the squire
and others of the household, 50s.; the chaplain's
stipend for celebrating in the chapel was 20s.;
the cost of entertaining the prior for three
days on his annual visit came to 60s. An annual
pension of £2 6s. 8d. was paid to the vicar of
Stinsford, (fn. 6) and small payments of 6s. and 7s. to
the rector of Warmwell and the prior of Holme
respectively. The household consisted at that
time of the preceptor, brother John Larcher,
junior; Richard Bernard, his brother knight; and
Sir Robert de Norfolk, the corrody-man or
boarder 'in the place of a knight,' besides squire
and servants. (fn. 7) The balance to be paid into the
treasury after all expenses had been met amounted
to 79 marks 10s. 10d. The house was not
reported in a very good state, for the court at
Mayne was 'badly built,' the house in ruins:
'burnt by misfortune,' so that the whole return
of the bailiwick for one year would hardly suffice
to repair the buildings, and owing to these unfortunate circumstances that voluntary contribution to their funds by the neighbourhood, on
which every preceptory relied for a large fraction
of its income, could hardly be expected to reach
the average of 36 marks. (fn. 8)
The establishment at Mayne previous to the
Dissolution seems to have become incorporated
with or united to the larger and more flourishing
preceptory of Baddesley or Godsfield in Hampshire. In 1523 brother William Weston paid
£38 17s. 1d. for the commandery of Baddesley
and Mayne into the treasury or capital fund of
the order for the year ending at the feast of St.
John the Baptist, (fn. 9) and in 1533 the prior and
hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, by an indenture
dated 27 June, leased to John Gerard of Tincleton the capital messuage or mansion of their
manor of Friar Mayne with the tithes of the
chapel and a warren of coneys in Lewell or East
Stafford for a term of twenty-one years. (fn. 10) The
preceptory, therefore, in all but the name, seems to
have sunk to the position of a 'camera' or estate
maintaining no community and farmed out for
the benefit of the society.
In the Valor of 1535 all receipts and payments,
with the exception of the rectory of West
Knighton, are made out jointly in the name of
the commandery or preceptory of Baddesley or
Mayne; the receipts were 20s. 8d. from the
aforesaid rectory, (fn. 11) 4d. out of the rectory of
Langton Matravers and Worth, (fn. 12) and 5s. in tithes
out of West Chaldon; (fn. 13) the vicar of Stinsford
received a stipend of £2 6s. 8d. as in the return
of 1338. (fn. 14)
At the Dissolution the property of the Knights
Hospitallers was by Act of Parliament vested in
the crown, and the manor and premises here in
reversion of the afore-mentioned lease were
granted by Edward VI to William Dennys for
twenty-one years. (fn. 15) On the re-establishment of
the order under Philip and Mary they were restored in 1558 to Thomas Tresham, Grand Preceptor of St. John of Jerusalem, (fn. 16) but the advent
to the throne of Elizabeth brought about the
destruction of the order anew, and the queen in
April, 1564, in consideration of the sum of
£1,189 19s. 7d. re-granted the manor in reversion of the former lease of Edward VI to
William Pole of Shute and Edward Downing
and their heirs. (fn. 17) In addition to the preceptory
of Mayne with its members West Knighton and
Waye, the order possessed a smaller estate returned in 1338 as the 'camera' of Chilcombe,
which comprised the manors of Chilcombe and
Toller Fratrum with the rectory of the latter;
it was valued at £4 5s. 4d., paid 30 marks
into the treasury at Clerkenwell, and was farmed
out to Ivo de Chilcombe. (fn. 18) The Hospitallers
also held lands in Hammoon, Watercombe,
Marnhull, Wareham, Upway, Charlton Marshall,
Turnworth, and Shroton. (fn. 19)