Knights Templar linked to Yorkshire

04/08/2009

Yorkshire`s links with the Crusades and the Holy Grail have been revived thanks to a piece of painted wood picked up at a boot sale in Otley.
Antiques dealer Martin Roberts had accepted it from a friend in exchange for a £13 chest of drawers and set of Victorian glass handles.
He now believes it may be a door from a Knights Templar tabernacle, a box for carrying sacred items, although it might also be an early church artefact dating back 1,300 years.
It was found by the friend in a box of junk from a house clearance in Masham, an area that has many links with the Crusader knights.
And Mr Roberts, who lives in Leeds, even believes it might throw light on the legend that they brought the Holy Grail to North Yorkshire.
After being used to prop up the dashboard on Mr Robert`s van, it is due to be sold at auction later this year.
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