Blackfriars, Gloucester, England, founded about 1239, [1] is one of the most complete surviving Dominican black friaries in England. [2] Now owned by English Heritage and restored in 1960, it is currently leased to Gloucester City Council and used for weddings, concerts, exhibitions, guided tours, filming, educational events and private hires. The former church, since converted into a house, is a Grade I listed building. [3]
The monastery, known as Blackfriars from the black cloaks the friars wore, was founded on a site west of Southgate Street, with the city wall adjacent to the south. It comprised a church and a quadrangle formed by such buildings as the scriptorium (library), the dormitory with its renowned scissor-braced roof and the cloisters. It was established around 1239 under the patronage of Henry III and at its height was home to 30-40 friars.
The friary went into private hands after the dissolution of the monasteries, having been purchased for £240 in 1539 by Thomas Bell (died 1566), who converted the church to his residence and transformed the buildings of the cloister, including the scriptorium, into a cap manufactory.
The conversion of the church into a grand mansion was completed by 1545, [4] which Bell referred to in his will as "My howse called Bell Place". [5] The nave and chancel were shortened approximately each by a half, either side of the central crossing, of which latter the southern member, extending into the cloister, was removed. Upper floors and stone mullioned windows were added above the outer aisles, a semi-circular bay window being also added to the north side of the nave. The great window at the north end of the northern transept was built in, and replaced with several smaller windows. [6] In 1555 John Hooper, the Bishop of Gloucester, was burnt to death for his beliefs. [7] His widow, Anne Hooper and other Blackfriars clergy were exiled abroad. Hooper and her daughter, Rachel, died in Frankfurt in 1555 of the plague. [8] Anne left money to her son. [9]
A 1721 image of the complex by William Stukeley provides valuable information about the friary at that time.
In the 1930s Bell Place was converted into 2 dwellings. Restoration work on this former church was completed in 1984, when it was opened to the public. [10]
The cloister buildings were converted from former cap factory into dwellings in the 18th century, and part of the west range was heightened and converted into three houses. Bell bequeathed Blackfriars to his niece Joan and her husband Thomas Denys, son of Sir Walter Denys of Dyrham Park, in which family it remained until c. 1700. Both the ancient gateways to the Blackfriars have been removed, one before 1724, the other having collapsed c. 1750. One had become known as Lady Bell's Gate, which is memorialised in the modern street name "Ladybellegate", onto which the western cloister faces.
The site is today the most complete surviving Dominican priory in Britain, containing the oldest surviving purpose-built library in the country. [11] The friary includes a notable, scissor-braced, dormitory roof. [2]
Blackfriars is a restored Grade I listed 13th-century friary in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, located in the city centre, close to the city's Chinatown.
Kilcrea Friary is a ruined medieval abbey located near Ovens, County Cork, Ireland. Both the friary and Kilcrea Castle, located in ruin to the west, were built by Observant Franciscans in the mid 15th century under the invitation of Cormac Láidir MacCarthy, Lord of Muskerry, as protection from English troops.
The Black Friars of Shrewsbury is a short historical book by Paul Marsden, the former Shrewsbury MP, about the Dominican friars who arrived in Shrewsbury, England, in 1230 and built a church, cloisters, Lady chapel and series of outbuildings.
Clare Priory is a religious house in England, originally established in 1248 as the first house of the Augustinian Friars in England. It is situated on the banks of the River Stour, a short distance away from the medieval village of Clare, Suffolk. The friary was suppressed in 1538 and the property passed through many hands until it was again purchased by the Augustinian friars in 1953. Today the Priory offers modern retreat facilities for guests.
Greyfriars Church is an evangelical Anglican church, and former Franciscan friary, in the town centre of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The church forms part of the Church of England's Diocese of Oxford.
St Andrew's Hall and Blackfriars' Hall or The Halls are a Grade I listed complex of former friary church and convent buildings in the English city of Norwich, Norfolk, dating back to the 14th century. They make up the most complete friary surviving in England. The complex is made up of several flint buildings. The centrepiece is St Andrew's Hall. The halls are now used for conferences, weddings, concerts, beer festivals and meetings. The maximum capacity is 1,200 people. It is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites.
Sir Thomas Bell the Elder (1486–1566) was a cap manufacturer, mayor of Gloucester, and member of Parliament. He was one of the city's largest employers and wealthiest citizens and a great benefactor of the city and its people. He is described in contemporaneous documents as a "capper". He invested much of his wealth in real estate released on the Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes in partnership with Richard Duke, of Otterton, Devon, Clerk of the Court of Augmentations.
Whitefriars, also known as the White Friars or The College of Carmelites, Gloucester, England, was a Carmelite friary of which nothing now survives.
Aylesford Priory, or "The Friars" was founded in 1242 when members of the Carmelite order arrived in England from Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. Richard de Grey, a crusader, sponsored them, and conveyed to the order a parcel of land located on his manor in Aylesford in Kent. The estate came back into the ownership of the Carmelite order in 1949. After refurbishment, which revealed 15th century remnants, the manor house was Grade I listed in 1959. After subsequent work on site, the 15th century gatehouse and the NE section of the wall were also Grade I listed on 25 February 1987. The priory now contains an array of contemporary artworks by notable artists. It is a pilgrimage destination of national significance.
Blackfriars, Thetford was a friary in Norfolk, England, which belonged to the Dominican Order. It was one of several religious houses in Thetford closed at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The site is now occupied by Thetford Grammar School.
The buildings known as Whitefriars are the surviving fragments of a Carmelite friary founded in 1342 in Coventry, England. All that remains are the eastern cloister walk, a postern gateway in Much Park Street and the foundations of the friary church. It was initially home to a friary until the dissolution of the monasteries. During the 16th century it was owned by John Hales and served as King Henry VIII School, Coventry, before the school moved to St John's Hospital, Coventry. It was home to a workhouse during the 19th century. The buildings are currently used by Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry.
Austin Friars, London was an Augustinian friary in the City of London from its foundation, probably in the 1260s, until its dissolution in November 1538. It covered an area of about 5.5 acres a short distance to the north-east of the modern Bank of England and had a resident population of about 60 friars. A church stood at the centre of the friary precinct, with a complex of buildings behind it providing accommodation, refreshment and study space for the friars and visiting students. A large part of the friary precinct was occupied by gardens that provided vegetables, fruit and medicinal herbs.
The Mayor of Gloucester is the first citizen of the City of Gloucester, England, and acts as chair of the council. The Mayor represents the Council and the City at civic, ceremonial and community events both inside the City boundaries and elsewhere.
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 friaries 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.
The Priory of the Holy Cross, also called Rathfran Friary or Rathfran Priory, is a former Dominican Friary and National Monument located in County Mayo, Ireland.
St. Augustine's Monastery in Erfurt, central Germany, is a former church and monastery complex dating from the 13th century. The site is almost one hectare in size. It was built by Augustinian friars, an order of the Catholic Church. It is most well known as the former home of Martin Luther (1483–1546), the father of the Reformation, who lived there as a friar from 1505 until 1511.
Anne Hooper or Anne de Tscerlas was a Flemish Protestant activist. She became one of the first wives of an English bishop when her husband became the Anglican Bishop of Gloucester and Worcester. She corresponded with other activists and died of the plague in the same year as her husband, John Hooper became a Protestant martyr.
Ardfert Abbey, also known as Ardfert Friary, is a ruined medieval Franciscan friary and National Monument in Ardfert, County Kerry, Ireland. It is thought to be built on the site of an early Christian monastic site founded by Brendan the Navigator. The present remains date from the mid-thirteenth century, with the residential tower being added in the 15th century. The friary was dissolved in 1584.
Askeaton Abbey or Askeaton Friary is a ruined medievalFranciscan friary located north of Askeaton, County Limerick, Ireland, on the east bank of the River Deel.
Buildings and structures in Gloucester | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religious |
| ||||||||||
| Civic | |||||||||||
| Hospitals |
| ||||||||||
| Transportation |
| ||||||||||
| Education |
| ||||||||||
| Houses |
| ||||||||||
| Shopping complexes | |||||||||||
| Sports venues |
| ||||||||||
| Libraries | |||||||||||
| Hotels |
| ||||||||||
| Banks |
| ||||||||||
| Pubs | |||||||||||
| Art and theatres |
| ||||||||||
| Museums | |||||||||||
| Priories/friaries/abbeys |
| ||||||||||
| Gatehouses | |||||||||||
| Former castles | |||||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||
| Lists | |||||||||||
| Augustinian |   | |
|---|---|---|
| Benedictine | ||
| Carmelite | ||
| Carthusian |
| |
| Cistercian |
| |
| Crutched Friars | ||
| Dominican | ||
| Franciscan | ||
| Gilbertine | ||
| Knights Hospitaller | ||
| Knights Templar |
| |
| Independent |
| |
