 Remains of Greyfriars Priory south range buildings, probably the refectory | |
  Location within Suffolk | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Franciscan |
| Established | Before 1277 |
| Disestablished | 1538 |
| People | |
| Founders | Richard FitzJohn and Alice |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Ruins |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* listed building, Scheduled Monument |
| Site | |
| Location | Dunwich, Suffolk, England |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 52°16′32″N1°37′51″E / 52.2755°N 1.6307°E |
| Public access | Yes |
| Website | Dunwich Greyfriars Trust |
Greyfriars, Dunwich was a Franciscan friary in Dunwich in the English county of Suffolk. The friary was founded before 1277 by Richard FitzJohn and his wife Alice and dissolved in 1538. [1] The original site, which had 20 friars in 1277 when it first appears in records, was threatened by coastal erosion and the friary was moved inland in 1289. [1]
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Many of the buildings are believed to have been destroyed on dissolution, with the remains used as a house, a town hall and a jail at various times. Modern remains consist of a precinct wall, two gatehouses and some two-storey walls believed to be the remains of a cloister building, possibly a refectory or infirmary building. [1] [2]
The site was partly excavated in the 1930s and 1990s, with geophysical surveys being carried out on the site. [2] The site was surveyed in 2011 as part of a dig by archaeological television programme Time Team . A geophysical survey using ground-penetrating radar confirmed a range of wall features and other anomalies in the precinct [3] and trenches uncovered carved medieval stonework and medieval window glass fragments. [2] [4] Geophysical surveys suggest that the friary church may have been up to 60 metres in length. [2]
Some restoration work was carried out in 2008, including the strengthening of some buildings and repair of collapsed section of the precinct wall. [5] The site was then placed on the Heritage at Risk Register, [6] leading to a £250,000 restoration project in 2012 by English Heritage and Suffolk County Council. [7] [8] The management of the site was taken over by a local voluntary group, the Dunwich Greyfriars Trust, in October 2013. [8] [9] The transfer occurred after budget cuts by the county council meant that the running costs would no longer be met by the council. [7] [8] [10] The remains are classified as a Grade II* listed building and most of the site as a Scheduled Monument. [11] [12]