NHER 373 (Monument record) - Greyfriars' Precinct, Norwich

Greyfriars Precinct, King Street.

The Greyfriars (Friars Minor, Franciscans) arrived in Norwich in 1226 and were established on the site in 1285.
They started building work in 1288. The Friary was dissolved in 1539 and the buildings were demolished in 1565.
William of Worcestre gives the length of the nave as 82 paces; the crossing = 24 paces; the choir = 60 paces; the breadth = 32 paces. The length of the cloister (on the chapter house side) = 61 paces.
The precinct extended from St Cuthbert's churchyard on the north, to Rose Lane and the river on the south, to King Street on the west, to St Vedast's Street on the east.
There was an anchorage opposite a lane leading from King Street to the 'Red Well'. A further anchorage stood on the site of St John the Evangelist. The main entrance to the precinct was opposite 'The Griffin' on King Street. The site incorporates the site of the church of St John the Evangelist (NHER 427), demolished around 1300, which was situated on the corner of Rose Lane and King Street. The church was said to be 300ft (91m) long, 80ft (24m) wide. Cloisters and large chapter house (S1). Dissolved in AD 1538.
For additional information on the documentary evidence for Norwich Greyfriars see the relevant sections of (S2), an early draft of which is also held by HES (S11).

May 1991. Field Observation.
Examination of foundation trench in yard of Norfolk Club after human skeletal remains uncovered by workmen.
A skull and a leg bone had been pulled out by the workmen and a small amount of subsequent excavation uncovered a number of leg and foot bones. A single fragment of early medieval pottery was also recovered.
See record form (S3) for further details.
E. Rose (NLA), 6 November 1991.

For 1992 excavations see NHER 845.

October 1997. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site. Contexts 5 to 101.
Evidence of Late Saxon timber buildings, ironworking, comb making.
Important small finds.
Superseded by Franciscan graveyard with demolished ecclesiastical building.
Considerable lengths of the north precinct wall remain along the south side of St Faith's Lane, opposite and parallel to the cathedral precinct wall (it is not clear which of these the OS marking as an antiquity refers).
See report (S4) for further details. The results of this work are summarised in (S5).
See also (S6).
The associated archive has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (Late Saxon buckle initial accessioned as NWHCM : 2003.177, main archive now NWHCM : 2017.500) [1].
E. Rose, A. Rogerson and B.S. Ayers 21 November 1995. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 27 April 2019.

November 1999.
P. Emery (NAU) in lecture to RAI stated: in order to establish the site existing houses were demolished and cellars in-filled. A road, marked with hoofprints and wheel-ruts, was closed and blocked by the princinct wall. In 1292 eight plots were purchased for new buildings and the site was updated in the late 15th. There was a dovecote, a 2m high south precinct wall, and a stone bridge over the Dallingflete that survived until the 19th century (and may still survive below ground). Several wells (one of huge size) were excavated and a drain roofed with paramoudras.
E. Rose (NLA), 10 November 1999.

1998. Excavation and Watching Brief. Contexts to 965 used.
Uncovered a portion of the 10th-12th century street frontage containing domestic and industrial material and comprising remains of timber structures, pits and ditches. The site of a possible forge incorporated into the precinct of the Franciscan Friary in the 13th century was found.
136 14th-16th century burials excavated from the Franciscan Friary cemetery.
See published monograph (S7) and draft report (S8) for full details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S9).
The associated archive has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2004.805).
J. Allen (NLA), 5 August 2003. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 27 April 2019.

July 1998. Photographic Survey.
Photographic survey of existing cathedral precinct wall adjacent to St Faiths Lane, a portion of the southern face of which was exposed during the construction of a new Norwich School sports hall.
See (S10).
P. Watkins (HES), 2009

Human remains from Friary to be re-interred at the Franciscan Friary cemetery at East Bergholt, Suffolk.
See letter in file.
A. Hutcheson (NLA), 7 November 2002.

For the tomb of Roger Appleyard buried here in 1529 and possibly removed to Bracon Ash at the Dissolution, see NHER 9524.
E. Rose (NLA), 4 February 2003.

An area to the north east, between the modern-day Cathedral Street and St Faith's Lane, appears to have been enclosed within the precinct and cultivated from the 13th or early 14th century onwards.
See NHER 49074 for further information.
A. Cattermole (NLA), 26 November 2007.