ABSTRACT
In the Middle Ages most of the Midlands was an area of villages surrounded by open-field agriculture. It was densely populated by the twelfth century and it is not surprising that the Templars, coming relatively late on to the scene, had few estates in this area. In the North Midlands their lands in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland were managed from one of the Lincolnshire preceptories. Rents from Nottinghamshire included five marks for the mill at Girton, which was specifically set aside for sick and infirm brothers. Other property in Nottinghamshire included tenements in Newark and Nottingham and small parcels of land. In Derbyshire they held two tenements in Derby worth 4s a year and a close worth is 10d, and another two tenements in Chesterfield leased in 118 5 to William the baker and the wife of Richard the Tanner. There were no Templar preceptories in these northern Midland counties, and it was the Knights Hospitaller who were prominent in Derbyshire.
