one was built in Rothley when King Henry lll granted them the Manor and Soke of Rothley in that year. There is still a portion of their domestic buildings and Chapel as part of the Rothley Court Hotel in Westfield Lane.
Mr Nicholls, the County Historian, found an incomplete effigy in Rothley Churchyard in 1790 after it had been removed from inside the Church, which usually happens when space is needed for another monument. He arranged for this important piece of history to be replaced in the Church but it was not re-sited until 1829.
However, when the Church was restored in 1876, it was again removed and placed in the crypt of the Chapel of the Knights Templars. (The crypt is the entrance hall to the Chapel, not an underground crypt.)
History repeated itself in 2004 when Brian Verity, the Archaeological Warden for Rothley, read the account of the effigy and decided to track it down. The moss-covered pieces were lying outside the Chapel as rockery stones and Brian spotted what appeared to be a somewhat flat piece of stone with a crossed leg. It was indeed part of our Cross-legged Templar and other important pieces were then found nearby.
The Hospitallers had been established in England in 1100 and their Grand Commander in England took the possessions of the Templars in Rothley in 1313.
In 1351 the manorial rights of Old Dalby, Rothley and Heather were formed into a Commandery under a Commander, or Preceptor, who lived in Old Dalby and the Rothley Temple land was rented out for farming.
The Knights of St. John held the Manor and Soke of Rothley from 1313 to 1540 when their possessions passed to the Crown. Humphrey Babington became the lessee in 1540 and his son, Thomas Babington, took over the remaining part of the lease on his father's death in 1544. From 1565 to 1845 the Babington family were the Lords of the manor and Soke of Rothley and during this time the buildings were converted from the Temple, or Preceptory, to domestic use.
