The preceptory of Angles

France, department of Charente, 7 km south of Cognac, village of Salles-d'Angles.

Two documents attest to the templar origin of the Preceptory of Angles. The first one is a act passed in 1214 between the preceptor of Châteaubernard and of Angles and a man named André Prêtre, regarding mills located close to the templar house of Angles.
The second one, dated 1295, is a bill of sale of a mill to the Templar Hugues de Narzac, Preceptor of Châteaubernard and Angles. Apart from the fact that the first one establishes the founding of Angles as Templar, it also shows us that Angles was always attached to Châteaubernard. Its income was probably too modest to allow the upkeep of a separate preceptory with its surrounding facilities.

As in many unique vestiges among templar sites, the chapel stands at the centre of the small place of an ancient cemetery. It’s a sober and even austere building. The portal is semicircular without any moulding and the high and narrow window which surmounts it is partially sealed.
The three high windows in the apse are “cut“ by the roof of the sacristy, an awkward annex, most likely added around the end of the 18th century. Two openings pierced in the southern wall complete the apertures of this building.
Some graffiti most likely of medieval age for the most part are visible on the southern and western walls of the edifice.

1. "Les Commanderies des Templiers et des Hospitaliers de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem en Saintonge et en Aunis"
   

   Anne-Marie Legras; Editions du Centre National de Recherche Scientifique 1983

2. "Les Templiers dans le Sud-Ouest"
   

   Jacques Dubourg; Editions Sud Ouest 2001

3. "Les Sites Templiers en France"
   

   Jean Luc Aubarbier et Michel Binet ; Éditions Ouest-France, 1997