Place Name
Named after the Monastic Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, which was founded sometime around 1048. In 1123 the monks of the hospital formed themselves into the Order of Knights of St John of Jerusalem, a military body protecting pilgrims heading for the Holy Land. Their English headquarters were set up here in the 12thCentury and the church and the gatehouse still stand. The gatehouse, which was rebuilt in 1504, was the only part of the priory to survive the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Today, it is the HQ of the St John’s Ambulance Brigade.
