Last year, the deeply secretive Knights Templar demanded an apology from the Vatican for persecuting the group in the 14th century. Apparently, the Vatican wasn't entirely against the idea. That surprising communication from the shadowy sect also revealed the hometown of its current grand master. The Guardian went on a quest to Hertfordshire, England to track down the Templars:
If there is something implausible in the idea that huge stretches of world history have been secretly coordinated from a market town just north of the M25 – well, maybe that's what they want you to think. The local newspaper, the Hertfordshire Mercury, certainly seems convinced: over the past few months it has published several intriguing stories quoting local Templars, who told its reporter of a secret network of tunnels under the town that was still in use by the order. "It reaches beyond well known central Hertford locations," one Templar said, "including the tourist office, the castle, Monsoon, Threshers, the post office, Bayley Hall, and the council offices." Treasures of "immense importance" were hidden there, it was claimed. Was the quest for the Holy Grail finally about to come to an end? More surprisingly still, was it about to come to an end underneath Monsoon on Market Place?
The man who has persuaded the Vatican to consider apologising, Tim Acheson, meets the Guardian in icy morning fog in Hertford, wearing smart pinstriped trousers and a thick winter overcoat. His midnight-blue sports car is parked nearby. "As you might expect," he says, setting the tone for the day, "there are going to be some things that I'm not able to discuss."
