Temple Manor

About

Temple Manor is the stone hall of a manor house built for the Knights Templar in about 1240, decades after Henry II gave the order the manor of Strood in 1159. It was designed to lodge dignitaries travelling between Dover and London. In 1324 the manor passed to Edward II, and its income later endowed an order of Franciscan nuns. Rochester bought the estate for industry in the 1930s, and the derelict house was restored by the Ministry of Works after the Second World War. An external stair, rebuilt in the 1950s, climbs to the first-floor chamber, where the main doorway has Purbeck marble shafts and traces of wall painting survive, above a vaulted undercroft. The house stands in a leafy garden in the middle of an industrial estate, and reviewers say it is easy to drive past among the units. Visits are arranged in advance with English Heritage. Dogs on leads are welcome in the garden.

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Temple ManorBy appointment only

Opening times may change at short notice.

Open by appointment only: email English Heritage's South Volunteer Engagement Team (SouthVolunteerEngagementTeam@english-heritage.org.uk) to arrange a time.

Closed from November to March.

Free entry. Visit Medway's listing still says the manor is closed; English Heritage's own page gives the appointment arrangement.

Accessibility: the first-floor chamber is reached by an external stair; no access information is published.

Parking: English Heritage publishes no parking details; ask when arranging the visit.

Photo: Marathon. CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_Manor,_Strood_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3602370.jpg. Resized for display.

Dogs at the location: Allowed with restrictions. Dogs on leads in the grounds only, not inside the building.

Dog walks in the grounds: Allowed with restrictions. Dogs on leads in the garden around the manor; visits by appointment.

Leads: Dogs must be on leads.

Assistance dogs: Assistance dogs welcome across the site.