Sandtoft was granted to the abbey of St Mary's York, c. 1150, by Roger de Mowbray, for the use of a single monk. By 1241, it had become a separate monastic cell, later annexed by the larger cell of St Mary Magdalene, Lincoln.[5]
Grade II listed Hirst Priory[6] is on or near the site of a monastic cell at Hirst. In the early 12th century the lands for the cell were granted by Nigel d'Albini to the Austin canons of Nostell Priory. The cell, which was extant until the 16th century, housed a single canon to oversee the priory's property and tithes.[5] The house was built in the 18th century, with later additions in the 19th.[6]
Temple Bellwood was a large house in 200 acres (0.8 km2) of parkland north of Belton. The land once belonged to the Knights Templar of Balsall, Warwickshire.[5]
Transport
The M180 runs east west to the north of the village.
An Ordnance Survey map from the 1920s shows an agricultural tramway network running around North Moor, to the north of Temple Belwood, linking to the railway at Hagg Lane siding. As well as use on farms, such lines were also used for peat extraction in this area, as on the nearby Thorne and Hatfield Moors, often using WW1 trench railway equipment.
