Monument record MDR15032 - The Preceptory of the Knight's of St. Lazarus (site of), Locko Park, Dale Abbey

Antiquarian histories of Derbyshire and oral histories indicate the existence of The Preceptory of the Knight's of St. Lazarus and various attempts have been made to locate the original preceptory. An obvious theory to its disappearance would be that the site of the hospital is now covered by Locko Park. The Knight's of St. Lazarus were established in 1120 as leprosy relief as part of a wider, European, preceptory network. The first firm reference to a hospital occurs in an Inquisition Post Mortem of 1296, though it refers back to a hospital during the confiscation of the de Ferres estate, the landowners, in 1266. A preceptory was also listed in Locko in 1266 dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen, but probably existed since the granting of the property by de Ferres as a gift to the Order of St. Lazarus and Spondon church estate, to deal with the social problems connected with leprosy. In 1300, nine 'daughter houses' of hospital relief were listed in England, with Locko being one. The Locko estate itself in 1312 was expanding, possibly implementing the construction of a hospital or preceptory connected with the Spondon church estate of the Order of St. Lazarus. Because of the importance of the church in medieval and post-medieval England, the preceptory constantly changed hands during power and estate disputes. The area probably lost its use as a preceptory in the early 1500s when the area was divided into farmsteads, individual houses and manor estates. (1) Features may mark the extent of the preceptory that have been seen on documentary evidence: Near Thistley Field and Far Thistley Field, (SMR 18769) 'Mr. Harpur's Old House' (site of) and 'Hornbuckle's House' (site of), (SMR 18770) 'Well Croft' well (site of), (SMR 18771) Fishpond and moat (site of), (SMR 18772) Hambleton Farmstead (site of), (SMR 18773) Trackway heading north to Stanley, (SMR 18774) Ornamental pond complex, (SMR 18775)