The Knights Hospitallers – Who Were They?
On a fine June evening in the Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Carbrooke, Helen Riley enlightened a good audience of Watton Society members on who the Knights Hospitallers were and their connections with Carbrooke Church. In a field near the Church can be seen the remains of the ‘Commandery’ where a group of the Knights were based, collecting alms for the care and shelter of pilgrims to Jerusalem, and doing good work in the community. The Hospitallers were formed in 1099 in Jerusalem as The Knights Hospitallers of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, and were based in various areas before they effectively ceased to exist in England in the reign of Queen Elizabeth the First. However the modern St. John Ambulance is their direct descendant and uses the same cross on their badge.
The Watton Society now has outside visits during the summer and will meet again in the Watton Christian Community Centre at 7.45 pm on Wednesday, September 19th for a talk by Mark Reynolds entitled My Life in Cartoons.