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BEVERLEY HOSPITALLERS PRECEPTORY

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Site of Preceptory of the Holy Trinity (Knights Hospitallers). Founded soon after 1201, when Sybil de Valloines gave the Order the manor of the Holy Trinity. At the Dissolution in 1540 the Beverley preceptory was one of the wealthiest in England. Although much of the site was buried by the construction of the Hull-Bridlington railway in the 1840s, the North and East sides of the enclosing moat were still visible in 1856 and the East arm, eventually filled in to make way for sidings, is shown on an OS 1:500 plan of 1892. No remains of the site are now visible above ground but evidence from elsewhere in Beverley suggests that building foundations are likely to survive beneath the railway track and associated goods yard, which are slightly embanked. The Preceptory complex included residential and service buildings, a church and a
burial ground, enclosed by a moat and entered by a formal gateway. Trial excavations for the Humberside Archaeological Unit succeeded in locating the main ditch on the North and East sides of the moated enclosure; it was found to be a massive feature at least 1.9m deep. Sections cut across it suggest that it was kept clean for most of the Middle Ages by regular scouring. On the East side of the enclosure a second, internal ditch was located, possibly marking a hitherto unsuspected foreshortening of the enclosure during the later Middle Ages. None of the preceptory buildings were located during the excavations. Natural silting of the ditches suggests that the site may have been abandoned following the Dissolution. This and earlier small scale excavation work has succeeded in more closely defining the preceptory area and establishing the depths of archaeological survival within it. The moat enclosed a rectangular island circa 83m East-West by 121m North-South and circa 1 ha (2.48 acres) in area, in keeping with the status of a middle-ranking house of the Order.

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[TA 0391 3965] MOAT [GT] (Site of) (1)

[Area centred: TA 0387 3964] Preceptory of the Knights Hospitallers,
Beverley, founded c. 1201 dissolved 1540, was situated east of
Beverley where the railway station now stands, the property
consisting of the Inner and Outer Trinities, the former of which is
enclosed by a moat. (2)

TA 0385 3968. Site of Preceptory of the Holy Trinity (Knights
Hospitallers). Scheduled RSM No 12608. Site founded soon after 1201,
when Sybil de Valloines gave the Order the manor of the Holy Trinity.
At the Dissolution in 1540 the Beverley preceptory was one of the
wealthiest in England. Although much of the site was buried by the
construction of the Hull-Bridlington railway in the 1840s, the N and
E sides of the enclosing moat were still visible in 1856 and the E
arm, eventually filled in to make way for sidings, is shown on an OS
1:500 plan of 1892. No remains of the site are now visible above
ground but evidence from elsewhere in Beverley suggests that building
foundations are likely to survive beneath the railway track and
associated goods yard, whichare slightly embanked. The Preceptory
complex included residential and service buildings, a church and a
burial ground, enclosed by a moat and entered by a formal gateway.
(3)

TA 039 397. Trial excavations for the Humbs Archaeol Unit succeeded
in locating the main ditch on the N and E sides of the moated
enclosure; it was found to be a massive feature at least 1.9m deep.
Sections cut across it suggest that it was kept clean for most of
the Middle Ages by regular scouring. On the E side of the enclosure
a second, internal ditch was located, possibly marking a hitherto
unsuspected foreshortening of the enclosure during the later Middle
Ages. None of the preceptory buildings were located during the
excavations. Natural silting of the ditches suggests that the site
may have been abandoned following the Dissolution. This and earlier
small scale excavation work has succeeded in more closely defining
the preceptory area and establishing the depths of archaeological
survival within it. The moat enclosed a rectangular island c.83m
E-W by 121m N-S and c.1 ha (2.48 acres) in area, in keeping with
the status of a middle-ranking house of the Order. A detailed archive
report is available from the Humbs Archaeol Unit. (4)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 25" 1927.

( 2) edited by William Page 1913 The Victoria history of the county of York: volume three

The Victoria history of the counties of England Page(s)261

( 3) Royal Archaeological Institute The Archaeological Journal

W Stephenson 52, 1895 Page(s)278

( 4) by David Knowles and R Neville Hadcock 1971 Medieval religious houses in England and Wales

Page(s)301-302

( 5) General reference

History and Antiquities of Beverley 1829 295-6 figs. 4, 7 (G Oliver).

(6) Scheduled Monument Notification

English Heritage Scheduling Amendment 24/4/90

(7) Medieval archaeology : journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology

36, 1992 Page(s)242-3

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