Details

The monument is the site of a preceptory of the Knights Hospitallers and
includes the standing remains of the 13th century chapel of St Mary and St
John the Baptist, the buried remains of other buildings of the preceptory
which, together with the chapel, lie within a moated site, and a fishpond
which lies adjacent to the north eastern corner of the moat. At the centre of
the moated site is Stydd Hall which is a 17th century house altered in the
mid-19th century and built on medieval foundations. In addition to these, it
includes a substantial quantity of upstanding medieval masonry in its south
wall and, together, these medieval elements represent the remains of one of
the domestic buildings of the preceptory. The hall is not included in the
scheduling, however, as it is currently occupied and more appropriately
protected by its status as a Grade II* Listed Building. Further remains
relating to the preceptory, such as enclosures and the buried foundations of
such ancillary buildings as barns and workshops, will survive outside the
moated site but have also not been included in the scheduling as their extent
and state of preservation is not sufficiently understood.

The moated site includes a platform measuring c.80m square surrounded by a
moat which is c.12m wide across the top and up to c.2m deep. The moat, which
acted as a drain for the site and may also have been utilised as one or more
fishponds during the Middle Ages, is fed by a stream which enters it at its
north western corner and leaves it at its north eastern corner. Next to the
north eastern corner it has been artificially widened in the medieval period
to create a roughly rectangular fishpond measuring c.30m by 10m. This fishpond
is now separated from the moat by a modern causeway but will originally have
been linked by a sluice whose remains will survive beneath the causeway. To
the south of Stydd Hall is the site of the preceptory chapel whose upstanding
remains are a Grade I Listed Building and include part of the north wall which
stands to roof height and was probably retained by later owners of Stydd Hall
as a Romantic garden feature. The upstanding remains exhibit fluted columns on
the inside of the chapel and carved heads and oak leaves on the outside. There
are three surviving pointed-arch windows with the remains of another two
flanking. A string course separates the windows from a battered footing
(sloping plinth) measuring c.1.5m high which incorporates a doorway. The
remains were partially restored in 1933 by the Derbyshire Archaeological
Society and capped with modern red pantiles. The ground floor plan of the
chapel is also preserved as a buried feature.

Excluded from the scheduling are Stydd Hall, as noted above, all modern
boundary walls including the Grade II* Listed garden wall attached to Stydd
Hall, all fences and gates, the surfaces of the tracks crossing the site, all
outbuildings and other structures belonging to Stydd Hall Farm and a telegraph
pole, although the ground beneath all these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

A preceptory is a monastery of the military orders of Knights Templars and
Knights Hospitallers (also known as the Knights of St John of Jerusalem). At
least one preceptory of the Knights of St Lazarus is also known to have
existed in England. Preceptories were founded to raise revenues to fund the
12th and 13th century crusades to Jerusalem. In the 15th century the
Hospitallers directed their revenue toward defending Rhodes from the Turks. In
addition, the preceptories of the Templars functioned as recruiting and
training barracks for the knights whilst those of the Hospitallers provided
hospices which offered hospitality to pilgrims and travellers and distributed
alms to the poor. Lazarine preceptories had leper hospitals attached. Like
other monastic sites, the buildings of preceptories included provision for
worship and communal living. Their most unusual feature was the round nave of
their major churches which was copied from that of the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem. Indeed their use of such circular churches was unique in medieval
England. Other buildings might include hospital buildings, workshops or
agricultural buildings. These were normally arranged around a central open
space, and were often enclosed within a moat or bank and ditch. From available
documentary sources it can be estimated that the Templars held 57 preceptories
in England. At least 14 of these were later taken over by the Hospitallers,
who held 76 sites. As a relatively rare monument class, all sites exhibiting
good survival of archaeological remains will be identified as nationally
important.

The site at Stydd Hall is a good example of a moated preceptory of the Knights
Hospitallers and the upstanding remains include parts of a medieval domestic
building incorporated into a later house and a 13th century chapel which
survives well and exhibits well preserved architectural detail. Although the
moated site has been disturbed in the past by rotovating, the destructive
effects of this practice will have been limited to surface disturbance and the
buried remains of buildings and other features of the preceptory will survive
throughout. Moreover, well preserved organic and environmental remains, such
as wood, leather, bone and plant material, will survive in the water-logged
deposits of the moat and fishpond which have suffered only limited disturbance
from modern drainage works.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Bailey, G, 'Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire (4 volumes)' in Stydd Chapel, (1876)
Currey, P H, 'Derbyshire Archaeological Journal' in Stydd Chapel, (1933), 33-35

Source: Historic England