Bottesford Preceptory

Bottesford Preceptory, Lincolnshire was sited just to the south of Scunthorpe, in Lindsey. It is now gbmaprim|SE898069| lost in the new suburb at Grid reference SE898069. It lay in a small valley in the Lincolnshire limestone ridge called the Lincoln Cliff.

The present Bottesford Manor house is believed to have been the gatehouse to the preceptory. Templars Bath a spring in the field behind Bottesford manor is now hardly discernible, being simply a gathering of stones. The bath has been attributed to the Romans but others believe it was a dipping bath or well used by the Templar workers. It was in previous times used as a ‘magic’ health-giving spring. Travellers would drink its waters and leave cloth offerings (a ‘rag well’). This healing property was probably associated with the fact that a Templar hospital stood on or near the site. The only distinctive Templar artefact found here was an ancient gravestone with a large cross upon it. It was covering a body buried in a grave that had been placed at the angle formed by the north wall of the chancel and the east wall of the north transept, though this description does not indicate a normal Templar round church.

An inadequate dig was made in 1983 on the Templar fields nearby. Little was found and the land was backfilled. CW U.T.

[Bottesford Preceptory Church: [http://www.le.ac.uk/emoha/leicester/images/bottesford34.jpg]

[Bottesford Church, Earls of Rutland Chapel: [http://www.le.ac.uk/emoha/leicester/images/bottesford.jpg]

[Bottesford Church Rutland Tomb: [http://www.le.ac.uk/emoha/leicester/images/bottesford1.jpg]