Register and Rectors

The Register, including Frieston, contains dates for Baptisms from 1663, for Burials from 1673 and for Marriages from 1692. The 'Rectory' was probably ordained about AD 950, but the names of the earliest Rectors are not recorded, the first two to be named being Benedict in 1221, and in 1250 Alexander de Aldriseo.  From 1221 to about 1340, the Patron was 'The Master of the Temple in England', but the Order of the Knights Templars was suppressed by the Decree of the Council of Vienne 26 May 1312, and its endowments vested in the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem. From 1349 to about 1528, the Patron was the Prior of the Hospital of St John in England. However, King Henry VIII suppressed the Order of Knights Hospitallers in 1540, and its endowments vested in numerous private grantees. The services of the Church were suspended by Order of Parliament from St Bartholomew's Day 1645, and were resumed under the Act of Uniformity on St Bartholomew's Day 1662.