Worcester Blackfriars
The Worcester Blackfriars was a monastery in England, belonging to the Dominican Order. It was founded in 1347 by William Beauchamp, Lord of Elmley.[1] The monastery contained a school of divinity.
In 1431, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Thomas Northfield, a Friar Preacher at Worcester, and for the seizure of his magical books.[1]
It continued its association with the Beauchamps through the 1400s, Sir John Beauchamp, K.G., baron of Powick was buried there in 1475, and his wife Margaret in 1487.[1]
The friary was dissolved in 1538.[2]
The site of the monastery in Worcester became a shopping centre in the 1960s, called Blackfriars. It was demolished and replaced by the Crowngate which opened in 1992.[3]
Excavations took place in 1985-6, which uncovered the cloisters and friary church. These were aligned with the Roman Road. The small finds were repackaged by volunteers in 2010.[4]
Burials
- John Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp (fifth creation) and wife Margaret de Ferrers
References
- 'Friaries: Worcester', in A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 2, ed. J W Willis-Bund and William Page (London, 1971), pp. 167-173. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/worcs/vol2/pp167-173 [accessed 13 May 2018].
- Worcester Blackfriars, pastscape.org.uk
- Memories of Worcester's Blackfriars shopping centre shared for Crowngate 25th anniversary Worcester News, 23 October 2017
- BLACKFRIARS, WORCESTER, Research Worcester blog, 8 November 2010