Dunstable Friary

Last updated

Dunstable Friary
Bedfordshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Bedfordshire
United Kingdom adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Dunstable Friary (the United Kingdom)
Monastery information
Order Dominican
People
Important associated figures Black Friars
Architecture
StatusIn ruins
Groundbreaking13th century
Site
Location Dunstable, Bedfordshire
CountryEngland
Coordinates 51°53′03″N0°31′13″W / 51.8841°N 0.5204°W / 51.8841; -0.5204

Dunstable Friary was a Dominican friary in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. It was located to the west of Watling Street, between the present-day High Street South and the road that is called Friary Field.

Contents

The "Black Friars" came to Dunstable in 1259. [1] The Augustine canons of Dunstable Priory, who themselves were facing economic hardship at the time, were not welcoming towards the Dominicans. [2] The prioress of Markyate, though her own house was not a wealthy one, helped the friars with a dole of loaves until their church should be finished; a kindness ill-repaid, for they insisted on the continuance of the gift after the immediate necessity was passed, and when the nuns were almost as poor as themselves. [1]

The grounds were surrendered in 1539. [3]

Parts of the site were excavated in the 1920s. [4] From 1965 to 1967, the Manshead Archaeological Society carried out excavations of the monastic buildings, during which the Dunstable Swan Jewel was discovered. [5] [6] [7] Parts of the church were excavated by the Department of the Environment in 1972 and by Bedfordshire County Council in 1988. [8] [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

Manshead was a hundred of Bedfordshire in England. It covered an area in the south-west of the county stretching from Salford to Studham and from Leighton Buzzard to Houghton Regis and Dunstable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunstable</span> Market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England

Dunstable is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the fourth largest town in Bedfordshire and along with Houghton Regis forms the westernmost part of the Luton/Dunstable urban area.

Ruxox Cell was a moated chapel, or monastic cell, established in the twelfth century in the parish of Flitwick in Bedfordshire, England. Situated on the east side of the village of Ruxox, it was granted to the Augustinian priory of Dunstable by Philip de Sanvill, Lord of Flitwick, c. 1170. The grant was confirmed by William, Earl of Aumale, and his wife, Hawise, who was Countess of Aumale in her own right. It was dedicated to St. Nicholas by Robert de Chesney, bishop of Lincoln. Priors from Dunstable would sometimes retire to Roxux.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derby Blackfriars</span>

Derby Dominican Priory, also known as Derby Black Friary, or Blackfriars, Derby, was a Dominican priory situated in the town of Derby, England. It was also named in different sources as a friary, monastery and convent, but was officially a priory as it was headed by a prior and the Dominican Order calls all their houses Priories. The "Black" came from the colour of the mantles worn by the friars of the order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackfriars, Hereford</span> Ruins of Blackriars Friary, in Hereford, England

Blackfriars Priory was a medieval Dominican priory dating back to the thirteenth century. The remains of the priory, located in Hereford, England, consist of monastery ruins, a cemetery, and a stone preaching cross. The ruins are surrounded by a rose garden established by the local community in 1964.

Guildford Friary was a medieval monastic house in Guildford, Surrey, England. It was founded c. 1275 by Eleanor of Provence, wife of Henry III and occupied a site of around 10 acres (4.0 ha) on the east side of the River Wey. It was dissolved in 1537.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ipswich Blackfriars</span> Church in Suffolk, England

Ipswich Blackfriars was a medieval religious house of Friars-preachers (Dominicans) in the town of Ipswich, Suffolk, England, founded in 1263 by King Henry III and dissolved in 1538. It was the second of the three mendicant communities established in the town, the first being the Greyfriars, a house of Franciscan Friars Minors, and the third the Ipswich Whitefriars of c. 1278–79. The Blackfriars were under the Visitation of Cambridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackfriars, Leicester</span> Former priory of the Order of Preachers in Leicester, England

Blackfriars Leicester, also known as St Clement's Church, Leicester and St Clement's Priory, Leicester, is a former priory of the Order of Preachers in Leicester, England. It is also the name of a former civic parish, and a neighbourhood in the city built on and around the site of the old priory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Totternhoe Roman villa</span> Roman villa in Bedfordshire, England

Totternhoe Roman villa is on Church Farm, Church Road, in Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, England. No sign of it is now visible, as it has been filled in and grassed over.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strade Abbey</span>

Strade Abbey is a former Franciscan/Dominican monastery and National Monument located in County Mayo, Ireland.

Charmian Catherine Woodfield was a British archaeologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castlelyons Friary</span> Ruined Carmelite priory in Cork, Ireland

Castlelyons Friary is a former Carmelite Priory and National Monument located in County Cork, Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinalehin Friary</span> Ruined Franciscan friary in Galway, Ireland

Kinalehin Friary, originally a medieval charterhouse or Carthusian monastery and later a Franciscan friary, is a National Monument located in County Galway, Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackfriars, King's Lynn</span> Dominican priory in Norfolk, 1250s–1538

Blackfriars was a priory of the Order of Preachers in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England established in the 1250s and dissolved in 1538. The name Blackfriars comes from the black cappa (cloak) and hood Dominican Friars wear over their white habits during the winter and when outside the cloister.

References

  1. 1 2 "Friaries: The Dominicans of Dunstable | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  2. Garrod, Hugh. "Dunstable Friary", Medieval Dunstable
  3. Historic England. "Monument No. 359864". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  4. T. W. Bagshawe and A. R. Martin, "The Dominican Priory of Dunstable, with an account of some recent excavations on the site", Journal of the British Archaeological Association, n.s. 33, 321-342, 1927.
  5. C. L. Matthews, "Excavations on the site of the Dominican Friary, Dunstable 1965", Manshead Magazine, 16, 1966.
  6. C. L. Matthews, "Dominican Friary Excavation - Season 1966", Journal of the Manshead Archaeological Society, 17, 1967.
  7. C. L. Matthews, "The 1967 Excavations on the site of the Dominican Friary, Dunstable", Journal of the Manshead Archaeological Society, 18, 20-23 and 30, 1968.
  8. C. L. Matthews, "Friary Field Excavations 1972", Journal of the Manshead Archaeological Society, 22, 19, 1973.
  9. R. Clark and A. Maull, "Dunstable Friary Excavations 1988", Journal of the Manshead Archaeological Society, 29, 26-28, 1989.

The Medieval Dunstable project website has sections on Friary History and Friary Archaeology.