112 pages, 118 illustrations (plans, map, photos)
This book has a gazetteer of more than 200 friaries known to have existed in England, most of them founded during the 13th and 14th centuries. The majority were in towns and their sites were mostly plundered for their materials and then built over after they were suppressed by order of Henry VIII in 1538-9. A ruin or a much-altered range or two survives of about 40 friaries. Only one, at Norwich, has its full layout of both church and cloister buildings still roofed and nearly complete. Excavations have revealed something of the layout of another ten friaries. Plenty of old historical records tell us about the friars’ activities in our towns, and the ups and downs of their relationships with other monasteries, the parish priests and the church authorities. Also noted are gifts from major benefactors, and some of the latter’s burials within friars’ churches or precincts.
Available as a separate item (add £2.50 for postage) or as part of a five-volume monastic sites set for £40, including postage.