Monument Type(s):

• ANCHORITE CELL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• CEMETERY (Medieval to Late 18th century - 1066 AD to 1799 AD)
• DOMINICAN FRIARY (13th century to 16th century - 1231 AD? to 1539 AD)

Summary

The remains of a Dominican friary which between the mid 13th century and the early 16th century occupied or controlled much of the riverside between Shrewsbury Castle and the English Bridge (leading to disputes with the Abbey), and which possessed a large and important cemetery in which many nobles slain at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 were buried. The site has been much disturbed by subsequent terracing and landscaping of the steep slope down to the river, but pockets of surviving archaeology remain.

Related records

Associated Finds

• FSA505 - HUMAN REMAINS (Undated)
• FSA1798 - COIN (Late Iron Age to Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FSA1804 - ANIMAL REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA1797 - ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA1803 - BRICK (Medieval to Early 20th century (pre-war) - 1066 AD to 1913 AD)
• FSA1801 - COIN (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1540 AD?)
• FSA370 - FLOOR TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA372 - FLOOR TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA374 - FLOOR TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA376 - FLOOR TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA1802 - FLOOR TILE (Medieval to Early 20th century (pre-war) - 1066 AD to 1913 AD)
• FSA377 - GRAVE SLAB (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA506 - HUMAN REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA507 - HUMAN REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA510 - HUMAN REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA538 - HUMAN REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA508 - HUMAN REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1540 AD?)
• FSA509 - HUMAN REMAINS (Medieval to Early 20th century (pre-war) - 1066 AD to 1913 AD)
• FSA1799 - JETTON (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA1800 - PAINTED GLASS (WINDOW) (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA1805 - ROOF TILE (Medieval to Early 20th century (pre-war) - 1066 AD to 1913 AD)
• FSA1806 - VESSEL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA373 - VESSEL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA375 - VESSEL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• FSA371 - VESSEL (Medieval to Early 20th century (pre-war) - 1066 AD to 1913 AD)
• FSA1930 - CHALICE (13th century to 14th century - 1200 AD? to 1399 AD?)
• FSA1931 - HUMAN REMAINS (13th century to 14th century - 1200 AD? to 1399 AD?)
• FSA1932 - SHERD (13th century to 14th century - 1200 AD to 1399 AD)

Associated Events

• ESA1310 - 1989 Evaluation of the Nurses Home site, Shrewsbury by BUFAU
• ESA1998 - 1960 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA1999 - 1973 Excavation of Water Lane/ Back Lane area, Shrewsbury by SABC Museums
• ESA2001 - 1996 test pits at the Nurses' Home (Blackfriars) site by Nigel Baker
• ESA3790 - 1996 evaluation of land off St Mary's Water Lane, Shrewsbury by BUFAU
• ESA3792 - 1932 observation of skeletons in friary area
• ESA4995 - 1996 assessment of the Four-Wheel Services Garage building prior to proposed demolition
• ESA4996 - 1997 WB on ground works associated with redevelopment of land S of St Mary's Water Lane by SCCAS
• ESA5383 - 2003 evaluation at Friary Close, St Mary's Water Lane by Marches Archaeology
• ESA5594 - 2003 WB at Friary Close, St Mary's Water Lane by Marches Archaeology
• ESA5753 - 1801 discovery of skeletons during levelling operations at upper Dominican Friary
• ESA5754 - 1823 Discoveries during construction of Union Wharf, Shrewsbury
• ESA5984 - 2005 WB at St Mary's Church, Water Lane, Shrewsbury by Nigel Baker

Description

HISTORY: Founded before 1232 and dissolved in 1539 <1a>
A writ of 1222 granted to the preaching Friars use of the King's stone which lies in the Severn for the building of the church This implies that the house at Shrewsbury is one of the oldest in the country. Reference to gate in the town walls in 1279. Structure: Three subterraneous apartments or cellars all 31ft long but of different widths laid open 1823, when part of the Friary was levelled <1b>
An anchorite was present at the Friary <1c>
Two sons of Edward IV, including Richard of York, born here. Many persons of rank killed at Battle of Shrewsbury 1403 were buried in the churchyard. Graveyard: Several skeletons were found in 1801 when the upper part of the Friary was levelled <1d>
Two skeletons found in 1934. Ground full of human bones close to the Water Gate (SA 10549) <1e>

In 1973 M Pitman excavated the area between Water Lane and Back Lane. It was found to have been extensively robbed and levelled, and there was little stratification. Foundations were uncovered which may have been part of the south wall of the choir. Another wall may have separated the friary proper from the cemetery (lying between it and the river) which was also found <7b><8><9><10>

In 1989 BUFAU excavated two evaluation trenches in the area centred at approximately SJ4942 1263. Only two features possibly relating to the Friary complex were encountered, the stub of a sandstone wall (F22) and a possible foundation trench, F21. In general, the evaluation demonstrated that most of the archaeological remains in this area have already been destroyed by C19 and C20 building <5><7>

In early 1996 four test pits were excavated by machine under archaeological supervision on the Nurses Home site. Test Pits 1 to 3 confirmed the conclusions of the 1989 BUFAU evaluation, namely that intact, coherent archaeological remains no longer existed over most of the area affected by the development of the Nurses Home site. Test Pit four demonstrated that a small island of intact archaeological remains survives in the extreme north-west corner of the main car park <11>

UAD COMMENTS: ->

-> HISTORICAL BACKGROUND. The Dominican (Black) Friary was founded at the bottom of St Mary's Water Lane in c.1231. Construction work was in progress in 1232 when Henry III ordered the county Sheriff to give the Dominicans stone 'which lies in Severn, under the ballium of the castle, for the building of their church' ; the same year he also granted them sixty oaks from the royal forests [<1d><12>]. A decade later the friars were allowed a further 200 cartloads of stone, left over from the construction of the town walls, to complete an enclosure around their precinct and link it to the town walls. In 1258 the friars were allowed to block up and divert a lane running under their church to the north, to prevent rain flooding the church [<1>] - the lane in question must have been Water Lane [PRN 62552], or connected to it, though precisely what was done to it is not clear. In 1263 the friars were granted a plot of land along the riverbank towards the present English Bridge, and also a garden outside the town wall that had belonged to the deanery of St Mary's. In 1264-5 they sought to extend their land by reclamation into the river, though the monks, whose ground lay on the opposite bank, objected. Nevertheless the friars were able to complete their scheme of enlargement, enclosure and embankment [<1d>]. An inquisition in c1279 also found that the friars had blocked a lane known as Yrkyslode leading down to the river from Dogpole: on topographical grounds this cannot have been the lane - to the north - diverted earlier to prevent surface water run-off from flooding their church, and the reference seems to imply further expansion towards the southern end of the site [see PRN 01447]. This seems to have been the final act in this expansionary phase, though in 1346, the friars were allowed to acquire and enclose a narrow strip of land adjoining their churchyard [<1d>]. The friary was a well-connected one, enjoying the patronage of the royal family and powerful members of the aristocracy. The Dominicans' provincial chapter met there on two occasions, in 1299 and 1345. Elizabeth Woodville, Henry VI's queen, was lodged at the friary in 1470/1-3 for the birth of her second and third sons. The friary was dissolved in 1538. The unwanted buildings were demolished over a five day period that October and the salvaged materials sold off. The land was leased out and later sold [<1d>]. In 1566 the site was cleared, levelled, and turned into a bowling green for the use of council members of the Council of the Welsh Marches, ladders being provided by the corporation to allow them to descend the terraces from the Council House to Water Lane [<13>]. By the 1570s, when the ' Burghley Map' was drawn, the friary had been reduced to three ruined buildings in the interior of the site, and one still roofed down by the water's edge, apparently spanning the remains of a channel. The crenellated wall along the south side of Water Lane was intact, and the riverside wall survived as far as the waterfront building. ->

-> ARCHAEOLOGY. The layout and extent of the friary precinct are uncertain. Its church and cloisters appear to have lain close to the river, at the bottom of Water Lane, in the area now occupied by Union Wharf House, Back Lane, and Friary Lodge. It was in this area that what seems to have been the east range of the cloisters was discovered and excavated in 1823. Two manuscript plans survive and correspond with contemporary written descriptions, but neither of the plans are tied into recognisable landmarks and the discoveries can only be approximately located. No records are available for the 1973 excavation in the back garden of Union Wharf House, and the published interim report is not much help. This claimed that the excavation exposed part of the church choir, and a wall running south from it to form one corner of the cloisters. The area, and burials contained within it, had been extensively levelled and robbed [<7b>]. If the core friary buildings at Shrewsbury were of similar size to the Dominican friaries at Worcester and Gloucester and, as appears to have been the case, the 1823 excavations on Union Wharf contacted the east side of the cloisters, it is likely that the church and cloisters would have extended as far west as the present junction of Water Lane and Back Lane, and south from Water Lane as far as the south side of Friary Lodge. However, the 1989 evaluation trenches on the main car park terrace (trenches B and D), and two of the 1996 test-pits in the same area (1996 1 and 2) revealed almost no surviving archaeological remains or deposits from what should have been the west side of the cloisters. Post-Dissolution levelling seems to have been comprehensive. In two of the 1996 test-pits (3 and 4) a destruction deposit was identified that consisted of a matrix of redeposited natural sandy-silty clay with fine fragments of crushed sandstone, Harnage slate roof tile, and human bone. In test-pit 4 this directly overlay the levelled remains of a medieval building. The extensive remains found on the Union Wharf in 1823 were excavated by digging into the bank above the towpath and, as thought at the time, the remains seem to have been of sub-structures (approx. at towpath level) to the church and east claustral range, whose principal floors and spaces were at a higher level, corresponding with the ground level further inland, further up the gradient (as at the Franciscan Friary at Bridgnorth). The level of the friary church/cloister floor cannot be accurately estimated, but it may have been close to or even above modern ground level at the rear of Union Wharf House [<14>]. With the exception of the latter, significant archaeological survival may be restricted to a linear zone along the riverbank. Sandstone masonry incorporated in the walls bounding the south side of Water Lane appears to be of mixed origin. North of Back Lane, with the possible exception of a short stretch of Grinshill ashlar, all sandstone appears to represent salvaged re-used material [<14>]. South of Back Lane, the same applies. A shed, with a piece of tracery re-used as a finial (Listed Building 653-1/11/596) and composed of re-used Triassic and Keele Beds sandstone rubble, represents the 1823 Union Wharf warehouse building constructed with material salvaged from excavated friary structures (themselves comprising re-used masonry). Below this fabric in the Water Lane elevation is a section of well-coursed ?Keele Beds sandstone ashlar of squarish (13thC or earlier?) proportions, nine courses visible. This may represent part of an in-situ medieval structure, conceivably the north wall of the church, but possibly part of the precinct wall <17>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, as one of less than 10 Friaries <18>

In 1997 a watching brief on the groundworks associated with redevelopment of the area south of St Mary's Water Lane noted a wall of pre-18th century date on the same east-west alignment as that discovered in test pit 4 in 1996. The two walls could not be definitely associated, however, as there was a gap of several metres between them. A number of other walls were also noted, including the remains of a medieval terrace wall running north-south at the foot of the slope <19>

In 2003 an evaluation was carried out in part of the site (Friary Close). Additional archaeological and historical background relating to the foundation of the Friary is included in the report. The land for the site was donated by de Charleton, whilst the domestic ranges were built by Lady Grenevile and the church by Richard (?) Pride, burgess of Salop [<1d>]. In 1365 the Friary secured the rights to a spring known as Flegwell, situated between the town and Monkesmore. Lengths of underground pipe were laid to carry water from the spring to the Friary. ->

-> The evaluation found probably medieval structural remains and evidence of burials. The excavators also remarked that successive landscaping episodes had detrimentally affected archaeological survival in parts of the site, but that the complexities of terracing in the area made it difficult to predict survival in areas not uncovered during the evaluation. <20>

A watching bief on the Friary Close site later in 2003 uncovered medieval graves associated with the Dominican friary. The human remains retrieved during the watching brief appeared to be part of a deeply stratified cemetery which extended as far as the substantial river wall shown on Burghley's map [<21>]. The cemetery may have been established by c1250 and may have continued in use until the 18th century. One grave contained the remains of a priest buried in c1400 with a pewter chalice. The quantities of medieval cooking pots and later materials found on the site led the excavators to infer that it was used for rubbish dumping from the 12th to the 19th century. At the eastern edge of the site a steep sided cut (which was at the same level as the graves) was excavated: a possible interpretation of this as part of a bank or a ditch was put forward. Investigation of the earliest features and deposits indicate several periods of activity which may pre-date the foundation of the friary. <22>

Watching Brief carried out at St Mary’s Water Lane, Shrewsbury in August 2005. The work involved the reduction of the present ground level in front of the easternmost of a range of small 19th century sandstone buildings facing Back Lane, backing on to Water Lane. These buildings were constructed in 1823 for the Union Wharf Company [PRN 20373] with sandstone quarried from the buried remains of the Dominican Friary [PRN 01463] buried below. The ground removed proved largely to be tipped ballast dating from the construction of a housing development in the late 1990s. To the south, where the excavations cut deeper into the rising ground, it cut through tips of 19th and early 20th century material. No pre 19th century artefacts were found. <23>

Sources

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