Templar Sites

ABOUT THE SITE

Penhill, West Witton, in Wensleydate (North Riding) was a preceptory that was part of the large Yorkshire Preceptory, which consisted of ten preceptories, one of which was Penhill. It was also known as Temple Dowskar or Dove Skar. It was a very small house and "was founded by Wm. Fitz Hervey, or by Roger de Mowbray, a crusader who by a charter of circa 1155 granted to the Templars the right to cut timber in his Yorkshire forests at Nidderdale, Malzeard and Masham." (1) The chapel here was dedicated in honour of Our Lady and St. Catherine of Alexandria.

A farm in the vicinity is still known as Temple Farm but, unfortunately, little remains of this preceptory to see today. Nothing at all remains today of most of the other Yorkshire preceptories. (see below). Mr. George Tull, in his book Traces of the Templars, elaborates further on the situation at Penhill:

"Some excavation was begun at Penhill in the nineteenth century. The chapel ruins were uncovered in 1840. The excavation revealed the stone base of an altar and some stone coffins in the chapel….Pieces of armour, bits and spurs were also discovered, suggesting that this site may have been a cavalry station. What has become of these artefacts is not known…..all that can now be seen above ground lies compactly in a grassy field on high ground up Temple Bank, an isolated site which has become part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. " (2)

Dennis Garner adds:

There are a few mysteries here. How did the Templars get all the dressed stone for the extensive buildings up the steep hillside? What was the original use of the tiny stone "coffins" on site?

In fig 2 you can see the standard size coffin and lid with the drain hole at the bottom, this was to let out all the bodily "juices" as the corpse decomposed. In fig 3 the tiny coffin as you will see is much better defined in a "body" shape - they have no drain holes and the recess is only about four feet long and about nine inches across the shoulder. Theories range from child burials (hardly likely from celibate monks) to hiding places for ceremonial swords. All these "graves" would have been inside the chapel as excavated in 1840.

• Dennis Garner on Penhill Preceptory on www.thecyberfarm.com

1. Tull, George, Traces of the Templars, p118-119
2. ibid
3. Allen, Bob, A Dales Walk, Ted Smart, 1997 (ISBN 0 7181 4135 0)