From the year 1211 the Knights Hospitaller settled in Ansty forming a small Commandery, comprising the Commander or Preceptor, two Knights, a Chaplain, three minor clerics, the local Commander's Esquire and six servants. This small group began to build the present church and it was completed in 1230, 25 years before the main part of Salisbury Cathedral.
As well as a fishpond, the members also constructed a Hospice possibly on the site of the large building which now occupies the site east of the pond. This newer building was built in 1596 by Thomas Arundell, probably as a banqueting house. Despite a fire in 1922 which destroyed the roof, the building was reconstructed in 2001 and is well worth a visit.
I have transcribed the list of incumbents of Ansty, available here.
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