Graves of Knights Templar made famous in Da Vinci Code found in UK graveyard

15 August 2023 , 18:55

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Templar graves at Staffs church (Image: Bev Holder / Stourbridge News / SWNS)

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has uncovered graves belonging to members of the Knights Templar at a tiny English village church in a Da Vinci code mystery.

Researcher Edward Spencer Dyas has found a total of eight 800-year-old forgotten graves belonging to members of the ancient order in the churchyard at St Mary’s Church in Enville, Staffs. Also known as the Order of Solomon’s Temple, the Knights Templar, or simply the Templars, was a military order of the Catholic faith, one of the wealthiest and most popular military orders in Western Christianity founded in 1119.

Closely linked to the crusades legends abound about the knights in their distinctive white robes emblazoned with a red cross. Researcher Edward believes the medieval building could be linked to William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, is considered the most famous Templar in history and is often dubbed “England’s greatest knight”.

And in scenes which could be from the best-selling Dan Brown book, his team were also permitted entry to the church crypt as part of their research. Now the mystery is why they were buried there. In the novel and Tom Hanks film, Professor Robert Langdon delves beneath Rosslyn Chapel, in Scotland, in the hunt for Knights Templar treasure. But Mr Dyas has been unable to find any historic documents which elaborate on their finds so are carrying out research inside the church in their quest for answers.

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The entrance to the crypt (Cordelia Noble / SWNS)

They studied stained glass windows which depict an array of coats of arms including that of Hugh Mortimer of Chelmarsh who married Agatha de Ferrers, granddaughter of Isabel de Clare and William Marshall. The discoveries have brought him to the conclusion that “Enville Church is one of the most prominent Templar Churches in England”.

The church on the outskirts of the Black Country was built in the early 12th century at a time when the Templars were creating Preceptories around Britain. Each grave features a Templar cross within double circles in a standard Templar design.

One of the graves also includes a Crusader cross indicating the knight was a Templar and a Crusader. Mr Dyas, of Stourbridge, “This find has been confirmed to me as being a unique discovery. The oldest Templar Society in Britain who keep records of all Templar sites has confirmed it had never previously been recorded.

“I believe these discoveries make Enville one of the most nationally important churches in the country. That’s due to its close links with William Marshall who is considered of the greatest warriors England ever produced. But there is a mystery of why an European Templar is buried at Enville and why they were secretly so prominent there. We believe Enville church was under the patronage of the Templars."

The finding could be 'most nationally important discoveries' of its kind (Cordelia Noble / SWNS)

As part of their research, they were recently permitted tolook inside the historic crypt beneath the church for further clues as to its Templar origins. Mr Dyas said the crypt has never been sketched or photographed before, and could be be anything between 260-years-old or 900-years-old. It is thought that in the Vatican archives there is a catalogue of all Templar graves.

On October 13, 1307, scores of French Templars were arrested, including the order’s grand master. Many of the knights were brutally tortured until they confessed to false charges, which included heresy, homosexuality, financial corruption, devil-worshipping, fraud, spitting on the cross and more.

A few years later, dozens of Templars were burned at the stake in Paris for their confessions. Pope Clement V reluctantly dissolved the Knights Templar in 1312. Some historians have claimed that the Knights Templar secretly guarded the Shroud of Turin - a linen cloth believed to be placed on the body of Jesus Christ before burial for hundreds of years after the Crusades ended.

Another widespread belief is that the knights discovered and kept religious artifacts and relics, such as the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant and parts of the cross from Christ’s crucifixion. The popular novel and film The Da Vinci Code presents a theory that the Templars were involved in a conspiracy to preserve the bloodline of Jesus Christ.

Stephen White