St. Mary Church

St. Mary's Church was founded around 1170 by the Knights Templar, who established a preceptory on land granted by Gilbert de Lacy. The Templars managed the property until their arrest in 1308, after which the church continued as a parish church, passing through centuries of rebuilding and restoration while maintaining continuous worship.

In 1086, the Domesday Book recorded the village as Getinge, held by Roger de Lacy. His son Gilbert, likely moved by the religious fervor of the Crusading era, granted land to the Knights Templar sometime around the mid-12th century. Roger de Waterville added additional donations. By 1170, the Templars had established a preceptory here and built their church.

The Knights Templar were a monastic military order founded in 1119 to protect Christian pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem. Their dual identity as monks and warriors set them apart: men who took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, yet trained for combat and answered the call to crusade. Their preceptories in England, including Guiting, served as economic bases, managing lands whose revenues flowed to support operations in the Holy Land.

A 1185 survey valued the Guiting preceptory's possessions at eleven pounds, ten shillings, and sixpence halfpenny. The properties included agricultural lands and slate production. A preceptor governed the community, which included knights, serving brethren, and a chaplain who conducted religious services in the church that stands to this day.

The village took the prefix Temple to distinguish it from nearby Guiting Power, a name that persists over seven centuries after the Order's dissolution.