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History & Description of St Peters Church, Swingfield
From
that time the Church at Swingfield was held in plurality with
the adjoining Parishes of Wooton & Denton, served by a ‘Perpetual
Curate’. The Lord of the Manor of the time (probably the
Manor of Denton) was established as Patron of the Curacy which
was in his personal gift. Only in 1928 was the appointment of
an incumbent reverted to being in the gift of The Archbishop and
Diocese of Canterbury, in which it currently remains.
St Peters, even in its earliest days, was not as is sometimes
claimed, strictly a Templar Church, although the Templars are
recorded as having their Preceptory and Convent on the site of
the nearby Commandery at the time that the Church was established.
It was most certainly part of the Bailiwick of the Order of St
John (Knights Hospitalers) which covered an extensive area in
and around Swingfield from the 12th to the 16th centuries. (extensive
and detailed records are held by the Order).
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