The New Neighborhood and The Encomienda of Beas

El Barrio Nuevo y La Encomienda de Beas

The Houses of The Order of Santiago (also known as The Order of St. James of the Sword) which belonged to The Encomienda* of Beas were located in this street (between numbers 44 & 48). Attached to them, towards the river, there was a mill and a fuller mill. The Bastimento Nuevo formerly know also as The Houses of The Tercia were located accross from these houses and were used to store cereals (wheat, barley, etc), wine and oil.

The Old Town of Beas belonged to the Order of Santiago since 1239, when Don Juan, Bishop of Osma, permuted it for other villas he had inherited in Castille. Initially linked to the ´The Higher Encomienda of Castille´, within Montiel´s countryside, headed by The Town of Ocaña and including The Segura Mountain Range and The Caravaca Bailiwick.

In 1565 this territory was divided into parties, linking The Encomienda of Beas and Chiclana to a new Governor in Segura. The government was later transfered to Villanueva de Los Infantes until the beginning of the XIX century.

There are references to the New Neighborhood (Barrio Nuevo) tracing back to the 15th Century, and there is also absolute certainly that various mannor house belonging to the local nobility were located here. The street ended in the fulling mill and public clothes lines, where people dried the well-know cloths that were made in the village.

*The most important internal subdivision of the military orders were called "encomiendas".