More information : [SJ 49491219] Friary [GT] (Franciscan Remains of) (1)
Martin, (a) quoting from Eccleston and others, says, in an account of the architecture of the friary, that the site for the Grey Friars at Shrewsbury was ordered by royal grant on October 30, 1245. The church, was still building in 1251. The site lay outside the town walls to the south-east, extending to the river, and in July 1246, the friars were licensed to construct a gate in the town wall. This gate was enlarged to allow the passage of carts in 1267. In 1520, the Corporation granted 10 marks towards the cost of repairs, carried out by the guardian at the time of Dr. Duffield, to the convent granary, then in ruins. An inventory, prepared when the house was surrendered in 1538, mentions kitchen, hall, chamber, frater and two boxes 'with evidences'. Martin concludes with a description of the remains of the friary which, he says, belong to a subsidiary structure of uncertain use, now incorporated in cottages on the river bank. The building apparently early 16th century, is of red sandstone, with three 3-light windows with somewhat depressed external arches on the south side, an original buttress on the east, and a plain doorway on the north side. The upper part is modern. Pearon (b) says '... has within these few years (i.e. before 1824) been divided into small tenements' and he gives an illustration of what the building once was. A stone coffin found in the chapel is, he says, preserved in the adjoining garden. AO/60/245/6. Owen and Blakeway (c) refer to a grant to the friars in 1371 of a certain plot for the making of a 'staindelfe' (stone quarry). Also to Speed's Map, on which, they say, is marked 'Friars London', the meadow where the walls of the frairs' garden may still (1825) be traced. (2)
The remains of the Friary are as described by Martin though part of the east wall is of brick.
See GPs AO/60/233/1 - Friary from SE and AO/60/233/2-Friary from NW. No trace of the stone coffin was found. (3) |