The Poor Fellow Soldiers of Jesus Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, popularly known as the Knights Templar, was the first and one of the most famous of the Christian orders. Founded for the protection of pilgrims visiting the Holy Land (Jerusalem), it existed for approximately two centuries. The Templars had several houses in Hertfordshire. When the order was suppressed in 1307, six Templars were arrested in Dinsley, near Hitchin. Four of them were imprisoned for six months in Hertford Castle which stood to the rear of the pub.