DECEMBER 2025

Shabbington, a historic manor in Buckinghamshire, has a fascinating connection to the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem. In the reign of Edward I, Joan de Grey, widow of Robert de Grey, received royal licence on 18 April 1299 to grant the manor of Shabbington to the Hospitallers. This licence allowed the Order to hold the estate in perpetuity, providing resources to support their religious and charitable work, including the care of the sick and poor, both in England and in the Holy Land.

The manor would have included farmland, meadows, woodlands, mills, and tithes – a typical portfolio for Hospitaller estates – providing a reliable income to sustain their mission. Although the Hospitallers’ tenure was later challenged by Joan’s descendants, the royal charter highlights Shabbington as an important component of the Order’s network of properties in Buckinghamshire.

One of the most enduring features of Shabbington is its parish church, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene, which is the oldest standing building in the village. The church incorporates some 12th-century fabric, though it underwent extensive rebuilding in the 14th and 15th centuries. Its enduring presence offers a tangible connection to the period when the Knights Hospitallers held the manor and administered its lands.

Archaeological evidence points to the wider medieval landscape. South of the church, a mound was recorded, which may have supported a medieval windmill, suggesting the manor’s self-sufficiency in processing grain. The medieval watermill, noted in the Domesday Book, also formed part of the Hospitallers’ holdings. Historic maps indicate that it once stood near the site of the present-day Old Fisherman pub, anchoring the village’s industrial past in the medieval era.

Through its church, mills, and historic manor lands, Shabbington offers a vivid glimpse into the operations of a Knights Hospitallers estate in medieval England. The village’s surviving features reflect both the spiritual mission of the Order and its practical management of lands and resources – a small but remarkable link to the wider story of the Crusades and the Order’s enduring influence on English landscapes.

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