Balantrodoch ~ Temple

Relationship of Temple, Rosslyn Chapel and Templar Wood

Templar Wood

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Rosslyn Chapel

Introduction
The Mystery
The History of the Chapel
The Carvings
Templars & Masons
The St Clair Family
Beneath the Chapel
The Thule Society
Earth Energy of Rosslyn
Related Locations
Rosslyn Chapel Today
Further Information
The Rosslyn Chapel Cubes Quest
Temple/Balantrodoch

Temple Update

A few miles to the south-east of the Rosslyn Chapel lies the village of Temple, the former site of Balantrodoch, the Templars' headquarters in Scotland, which is currently the focus of a Mystery.TV project that aims to uncover the lost heritage of this key site.

Balantrodoch was one of the first - perhaps the first - donations of land made to the Templars outside the Holy Land, being given to the Templars by David I of Scotland a few months before the Order was officially recognised at the Council of Troyes in January 1128. The name 'Balantrodoch' (also spelt Balantradoch, Ballantradoch and several other variations) means 'settlement of the warrior', and is a terrace of land in a bend of the South Esk. It is about 10 miles south of Edinburgh, only 4 miles from Rosslyn Chapel and the same distance from the Cistercian abbey of Newbattle.

Balantrodoch was the Templar headquarters in Scotland during the two centuries of the Order's pre-eminence. The Preceptor of Balantrodoch was one of just two Templars brought before a Church court during the suppression of the Order in the years 1307-1312.

The church built on the estate by the Templars in the 13^th century passed into the possession of the Knights Hospitaller in 1312. In 1535, in the religious reformations ordered by Henry VIII, it became the parish church of the village, which was renamed Temple in 1618. Today the church stands derelict but in a relatively intact state in the centre of the village. It was much altered over the centuries but parts of the basic structure remain from the original Templar building. The graveyard surrounding the church contains many graves bearing Templar and Masonic symbolism. Some of the Templar graves are medieval but others date from later times, up to and including the 20^th century.

The Temple project is being managed by Mystery.TV with assistance from Radar World Ltd. of Elvinston Science Centre near Edinburgh and enabled by sponsorship from Niven Sinclair. In addition to finding out more about the site itself, the project is intended to evaluate potentially revolutionary new technology that is a significant advance on current ground-scanning methods.

Radar World's ADR (Atomic Dielectric Resonance) system allows, for the first time, a detailed 'slice by slice' visual presentation of what lies beneath an area of ground to be built up. Buried objects, cavities and other anomalies can then be identified for digging. The advantages of the system are that it is non-invasive, relatively cheap compared to other ground scanning systems, flexible and versatile and can be commissioned to order. Mystery Channel is in the process of having a customised unit built.

The Temple site was chosen because of its interest, proximity to Radar World's base, and because the results of the ADR scan can be verified by excavation. If the equipment proves successful it will be put into use in Templar (and possible Templar) sites elsewhere in Europe and North America.

The Mystery.TV investigation centres on the grounds of the Old Manse, the house beside the grounds of the medieval church and graveyard. The first stage of the project took place in December 2001, when a number of ground scans were carried out.