Ansty Preceptory

A manor at Ansty was granted to the Knights Hospitallers by Walter De Turberville in 1210–1211.{{Cite book|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol3/pp328-329|title=A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 3|date=1956|publisher=University of London|editor1-last=Pugh|editor1-first=R.B.|editor1-link=Ralph Pugh|series=Victoria County History|pages=328–329|chapter=House of Knights Hospitaller: Preceptory of Ansty|access-date=13 June 2021|editor2-last=Crittall|editor2-first=Elizabeth|via=British History Online}}{{Cite journal |last=Clark-Maxwell |first=W. G. |date=1898 |title=The Fall of the Friars' Houses and Alien Priories in Wiltshire |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/157176#page/40/mode/1up |journal=Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine |volume=30 |issue=89 |pages=26 |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library}} At that time Ansty would have been one of only a handful of places where the holy observances were still celebrated, since the Knights Hospitallers, who answered directly to Rome, were excluded from Pope Innocent III's interdict (1208–1214).

The Hospitallers founded a preceptory in the parish. By 1275 they had property in Salisbury, and they later had lands in the adjacent parish of Swallowcliffe, undertaking in 1333 to provide a chaplain for the church there. Little is known of the later history of the preceptory.

In 1540–1541, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the properties were granted to John Zouche. Queen Mary after her accession in 1553 restored the order in England and returned all its property, including that of the preceptory of Ansty; however, it was suppressed during the reign of Elizabeth I.

The remains of the preceptory and fishpond are in the grounds of Manor Farm, Ansty.{{cite PastScape|mnumber=19191|mname=Ansty Hospitallers Preceptory|accessdate=13 June 2021}} Pevsner suggests that the 16th-century Manor House (formerly Manor Farmhouse) has traces of the main building.{{cite book|last1=Pevsner|first1=Nikolaus|title=Wiltshire|last2=Cherry|first2=Bridget (revision)|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1975|isbn=0-14-0710-26-4|edition=2nd|series=The Buildings of England|place=Harmondsworth|page=94|authorlink1=Nikolaus Pevsner|origyear=1963}}

The preceptory's 16th-century guest house, at the roadside near the church, survived until 1927 when it was damaged in a fire; it is now used as a workshop.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1318675|desc=Workshop 25 Metres North East of Church of St James|access-date=13 June 2021}} The William Salt Library, Stafford, holds an 1817 watercolour of the building by John Buckler titled 'Monastic Remains at Ansty'.{{Cite web|title=Wiltshire - Ansty - Monastic Remains, 1817|url=https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/asset/5895791/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-13|website=www.bridgemanimages.com|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613161502/https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/asset/5895791/ |archive-date=13 June 2021 }}

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Category:Monasteries in Wiltshire

Category:Preceptories of the Knights Hospitaller in England

Category:10th-century religious buildings and structures

Category:10th-century establishments in England

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