'I realised we had discovered more Templar graves at Staffordshire church that no one knew about'
"I realised we had discovered more Templar graves. I think I may be breaking new ground". Those were the words of the Stourbridge researcher behind the recent discovery of a set of medieval graves in Staffordshire.
It has been hailed as one of the "most nationally important discoveries" of its kind.
Mr Dyas has spent the last 18 months researching the Templar Knights, a military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the wealthiest and most popular military orders in Western Christianity.
The order was founded around the year 1119, headquartered on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and existed for nearly two centuries during the Middle Ages, before disbanded by Pope Clement V under pressure from King Philip IV of France.
Mr Dyas said he had been fascinated by the Templar Knights since reading about them and how they were more like monks and, as he described it, "were not avaricious and used their wealth only for good purposes."
His research truly began when he discovered the first set of graves at St Mary's Church in Enville in South Staffordshire in 2021, which he said all started off by accident when he was reading an English Heritage website story.
