the greyfriars, walsingham (nher 2036) revised version the...

The Greyfriars, Walsingham (NHER 2036) Revised Version

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The Greyfriars Little Walsingham

Norfolk

Fig. 1. View from east walk of Little Cloister towards the north west.

History and Significance of the remains of the Friary Little Walsingham

Stephen Heywood FSA Historic Environment Service Norfolk County Council Gressenhall Norfolk NR20 4DR


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Introduction This report forms part of Natural England’s management plan for the site and ruins of the monastic buildings. The Franciscans, or Friars Minor known as Greyfriars according to the colour of the habit worn, were one of the popular mendicant orders which were being established in England mainly during the 13thcentury. Friaries are distinct from other orders in that their income does not come from lands and their rents or from church appropriation but solely from charity for their subsistence and housing. Elizabeth de Burgh was granted a licence to found a friary at Walsingham in 1347 (later than the majority of friaries) to the annoyance of the existing Canons of Walsingham who feared that their income from pilgrims would be reduced. Their opposition was unavailing and the site was occupied and was to accommodate 12 Friars. In 1348 the guardian was given license to acquire a further three acres adjoining their dwelling place for its enlargement and it 1351 a further licence was granted, confirmed in 1384, to enlarge their dwelling place by enclosing a way leading from North Barsham to the chapel of St Mary in Little Walsingham beneath the said dwelling place on condition that they make on their own soil there a way of the same length and breadth to wit 60 perches by 16 perches for public use (Martin 1934, 232). The road from North Barsham lead across the site of the monastery to the south west entrance to Friday Market. It was diverted to the east to an entrance at the south east corner of Friday Market leaving unencumbered space for the construction of the Quire of the friary church. Of interest is that an anchoress lived at the friary and Parkin records references to her of 1507 and 1526 (Blomefield IX, 281). It is not known where she was housed but a similar occurrence at the Dominican friary in Norwich appears to have had a cell for an anchoress on the north side of the chancel. The friary was suppressed in 1538, the bell was sold in 1539 and the church demolished soon after. The little cloister was converted into a dwelling and a use for the large guest house was presumably found (for further on post medieval and recent history see Morrison, 2014). The site and buildings The site of the Greyfriars is on the south side of the town with open countryside to the south and bordering the market place to the north. The original main entrance to the precinct was almost certainly from the market place by the very short lane now cut off by later development. Precinct walls survive along Back Lane to the west and the main road to the east. The land is on a considerable slope with the lowest part to the east necessitating the use of retaining walls to achieve level ground. The plan of the friary has been elucidated by the excavations and research undertaken in the 1930s and published (Martin 1934)1 (Fig. 2). The principal parts uncovered established the main dimensions of the church including the characteristic ‘walking place’. This led via a covered corridor to the north walk of the main cloister leaving a space between the church and the cloister again in friary fashion. The chapter house projects from the former east range and its retaining walls survive to the north and south. The west gable-end of the frater survives showing that the main hall was at first floor level with a pair of walks beneath, one opening into the main cloister and the other into the little cloister to the south. The little cloister has much more of the buildings upstanding with the windows of the walks to the garth still standing. Typical of friaries, both cloisters housed the walks within each range rather than in the usual lean-to arrangement. The east range of the little cloister shows the 1 This article makes errors concerning the illustrations: on p. 247 For Plate IIA read Fig.2 and Plate IIIB. For caption to II A no remains of south door visible – ‘south respond of chancel arch’ would be better. The remains of south door visible in IIIB.


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former construction clearly, as the wall of the upper storey is still standing with the windows to the cloister walk beneath. The rear wall has been demolished leaving clear evidence of its former existence. A departure from the norm exists in the west walk which had a separate roof with kitchen range behind it. The south walk of which only the garth side wall remains, is of later medieval date. A spiral stair to the former upper floor survives and beneath it there is a small vaulted cupboard. To the west of the little cloister is the former kitchen which had been turned into a cart shed and its northern half is within a Victorian house which has not been inspected. To the west side of the main cloister there is a later medieval massive guest hall with the main accommodation on the former upper floor. The walls and gables are standing and in the process (January 2014) of being consolidated.

Fig. 2. Plan. A R Martin 1932.

The Church was almost certainly the first building intended to be permanent erected on the site. This took place soon after its foundation in 1347/8. Apart from the Guest House and the south range of the little cloister the surviving remains belong to the second half of the 14thcentury and leave no indication of major changes of plan. The south wall of the choir stands to a considerable height as it is acting as a retaining wall (Fig.3). Angle buttresses at


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the south east corner of the choir, of which one survives, define the choir which was of the same length as the nave. The east wall is in the adjoining property and can only be seen from the road. (Fig.4). It has two roughly cut niches and beam housings which suggest that a building stood against the wall.

Fig. 3. South wall of choir from the south east

Fig. 4. East wall of choir from the east.

Another area of upstanding wall is the east wall of the south aisle and the adjoining buttressing. This formed the starting point for the excavations which revealed the passing space and foundations for the tower with stair turret, the chancel arch responds and a


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doorway through the solid masonry of the nave east wall. This is probably a blocking of a larger arch similar to the chancel arch but the account of the excavation is not clear about this. The north west corner of the nave was revealed and the easternmost pier foundations. The south west side of the nave was completely lost. The narrow crossing or ‘passing space’ is a characteristic of friary churches. It enabled one to come from outside the monastery to the cloisters and conventual buildings without having to cross the nave or choir. A narrow polygonal tower was built over the space. This practice came about owing to the dense urban spaces where friaries were normally situated. The buildings of the friary were hard against adjoining properties and it would have been difficult to gain the cloister from other sides. Similarly, the cloister walks within the ranges is a response to the lack of space in the urban setting. Of great interest is that none of these provisions were at all necessary at Walsingham because the friary was in an open site. This demonstrates that at the time the friary was founded, the measures taken out of necessity with urban friaries had become a standard and sure way of identifying a friary. These characteristics were common to both Dominican and Franciscan friaries and found only in Britain and not in the numerous friaries elsewhere in Europe (Martin 1937, 40). The Dominican Friary at Norwich is an unique (for England) example of a surviving friary saved for the town at the time of the Dissolution (Sutermeister) (fig. 5). In many respects it resembles a larger version of the Walsingham friary church before its demolition and described as undoubtedly the finest example of a friars’ church now surviving in England (Martin, 1937, xvii).

Fig. 5. The Norwich Blackfriars Church. The tower has been demolished. (Drawn in 1796 by Benjamin Sewell)

The church was joined to the great cloister by a covered passage. Again this is typical of friary churches where the two storey ranges could not be built against the church walls without obscuring the windows. Therefore, a space is left between the church and the cloister and as there are no transepts a separate passageway has to be provided. The tower of the Norwich Blackfriars’ Church has gone but the tower is all that survives of Walsingham’s sister friary in King’s Lynn (Fig. 6).

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Fig 8. Foundation of south east angle buttresses to chapter house (DSW)

Fig. 9. South gable-end of dormitory and its undercroft

The east, dormitory, range appears not to have extended further north than the chapter house. The south gable-end wall is an impressive survival with the remains of two windows which lit the rooms at the cloister walk level and a spacious undercroft accessible from a stair in the south east corner of the cloister (Fig.9). Another doorway, now blocked, connected with the exterior exists in the gable-end. It appears to be an insertion using a pre-existing window to provide part of the opening. The east wall of the east range of the little cloister projects from the gable-end wall and is contemporary with it indicating the little cloister was by no means an afterthought. Above the south walk of the great cloister and the north walk of the little cloister was the refectory. The west gable-end survives with a partially rebuilt large window (fig. 10). There


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is a doorway and hatch onto the main hall level. It seems as this door would have been for service and that the main entrance was at the other gable-end.

Fig. 10. Frater gable-end

Fig 11. Refectory at north west corner - walk level.

The lower part of this wall has the stub of the wall which divided the two walks (Fig.11). The stub goes up to the springing point of the large partly blocked brick arch beside it. This arch is at the level of the walk ceiling. As the stub of the dividing wall stops at the springing point


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and not at the floor level, it is reasonable to suppose that the stub is in fact a respond to support an arch in at least this bay. The masonry above the respond is slightly disturbed having been patched after the removal of the arch springing up to the ceiling level.

Fig 12. Looking north from west walk of little cloister.

There are surviving arches to the north and south of the range. The former has been remodelled and consolidated in modern times which confuses its interpretation but it was the final arch of a dedicated way to the foot of the guest house stair from the south doorway along the west walk of the little cloister(figs. 2 & 12). There was of course a third arch in between. This passage would have been divided from the main body of the convent easily and suggests that the main entrance for pilgrims and access to the raised guest hall was from the south. Also it needs to be remarked that the passage connects the former south range of the little cloister which is also of 15th century date and its separate staircase suggests that it may have been the prior’s apartment or accommodation for important guests. Furthermore, earthworks telling of more buildings to the south are reported by Martin (Martin 1934, 262-3) and two engravings show standing fragmentary buildings (Fig.) (Martin 1934, Pls IX A & B). The Little Cloister is the best preserved part of the medieval convent along with the guest house. The east walk and range have the garth-side wall surviving almost to full height (Figs 1& 13). The flat-headed windows have simple panel tracery with each ground floor opening divided into three lights. The same applies for the north and west walks. There is a hearth surviving above the east walk which heated the dormitory or infirmary. The one surviving window to the upper room is of two lights with arched cusped heads and a transom. The walk has been shortened and blocked at its southern end. The walk has a pair of stone dressed doorways immediately next to each other but apparently leading into the same space and, as


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the ground falls away a lot, they are well above ground level and it is difficult to know what purpose they may have served (Fig. 14). It is tempting to think that one door led to a stair down to the undercroft floor and the other to a stair up to the dormitory level. There is no visible evidence of a stair. The abundant use of brick suggests that they are later insertions as believed by Martin (Martin 1934, 262)

Fig. 13. Little cloister east walk

Fig. 14. Paired doorways in little cloister east walk.

The garth-side west wall is markedly narrower than its equivalents to the east and north. This is because it departs from the friary norm by not having a room above it. A series of beam


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sockets along the rear wall indicate transverse beams across the walk (fig. 15). These would have been almost horizontal supporting a flat lead roof. This would have been hidden behind a parapet.

Fig. 15. Little cloister west walk from the south.

The west walk also has an arched opening containing the timber lining for a hatch (figs.16 & 17). The other side of the hatch shows the groove for a sliding door.

Fig. 16. Hatch walk side Fig. 17. Hatch west side.


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Of the south walk only the garth side wall survives. It is clearly of a different design to the other walks and constructed of cheap clunch rubble (Fig. 18). It has three arched openings to the garth and a further arch over the west walk which may be a post medieval addition. The arches are of brick alternating with flint and there is evidence of former tracery divided into three lights per opening. The jamb dressings are mainly of renewed clunch ashlar. The easternmost is occupied by a stair turret with the entrance from the former walk. This shows that the upper floor extended above the walk in the friary tradition. The western most arch is probably post medieval and has a stone panel carved in bas relief with the name Nehemiah Bond and the date 1648. The panel is flanked by moulded brick heads in profile in 16th century manner thought to have come from nearby East Barsham Hall (Fig. 19).

Fig 18. Remains of south range from south west

Fig. 19. Decoration over south entrance

This connects with the supposed kitchen. The south gable-end has a large arched opening with provision for timber gates (Fig. 20). The dressings of the opening are constructed of brown sandstone ashlar, a stone type which is a rarely found in the region and nowhere else


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on the site. The 4-centred arch has an adjoining relieving arch of alternating brick and flint voussoirs. Above the arch is a niche with a cusped ogee head flanked by small scale panel tracery. It houses a modern statue and is surmounted by a brick and flint relieving arch. The top of the gable has a small ashlar-dressed blocked opening similar to an owl hole. A third of the room is now contained within the adjoining house. There is half of a blocked arched hearth on the west wall but lacking any evidence of the flue on the outside (Fig 21). There are opposing doorways to the east and west at the south end (Figs. 22 & 23).To the south west a small brick lined doorway with a shallow four-centred head set within the blocking of a much larger arch also with four-centred head. To the south east there is a blocked large arch similar to the south west opening but more fully blocked. In their original form they must have been quite grand openings connecting the little cloister with the kitchen and the exterior. It is probable that along with the large gateway these openings belonged to a post monastic gatehouse as they appear not to conform to a typical monastic layout and the mouldings entirely in brick could easily belong to the period following the friary’s suppression. The niche above the doorway with its carefully built relieving arch could be in situ but it is more likely to be re-used taken from another part of the site.

Fig. 20. Entrance to ‘Kitchen’


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Fig. 21. Former hearth

Fig. 22. Blocked openings in south west corner. Fig 23. Blocked opening in south east corner The Guest House is a large building almost complete except for its roof and floors (Figs. 2 & 24). Its use of brick suggests that it was built at about the same time as the south range of the little cloister in the 15th century not long before the suppression of the friary. On the west side it is divided into five bays by massive buttresses of which one is larger owing to it supporting the hearth at the upper floor which was the living area. On the east side the buttresses define four bays with a wider central bay. The ground floor has or had 5 very


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tall narrow openings with shallow arches on the west side, to the east two similar openings and the remains of a third (D7, D8 and D10). The upper floor is gained by stately stairs on the convent side of the building (Fig. 25). As mentioned above the west walk of the little cloister leads to the stair from the south. Accommodated in a small vaulted room beneath the stair there is a 19th-century fireplace with an oven and copper. The flue emerges half way up the stair.

Fig. 24. Sketch plan of guesthouse with reference to text (DSW)

Apart from the main hearth there was a ground level hearth at the north end. This blocked up hearth has a flue within the thickness of the wall and therefore part of the original fabric. This end of the hall was turned into a separate apartment and the inserted corbels supported a beam which in turn carried the joist ends of an upper floor which were also housed in sockets in the gable-end wall (see below). The openings on the west elevation (Figs 26, 27 & 28) are tall and narrow with almost flat, ashlar-dressed, arches with adjoining brick relieving arches. The ashlar is of badly worn clunch and is in the process of being replaced where necessary. The arches are shallow, finishing just below the first floor. Bays 4 and 5 have lost their arches and in bay 5 a new arch of concrete has been built and the masonry above the arch reconstructed. In effect the only 2 arches which are relatively complete on the west side are bays 1 & 3. Buttress B9 is wider than the other buttresses because it supports a hearth at the upper level and the flue above it (Fig.29). It is clear that the wall corresponding to the buttress was rebuilt as can be deduced from the straight joint in the north reveal of D4. Also the rebuilding left no provision for the arch which originally spanned the opening. Consequently the opening (bay 4) has had its


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Fig. 25. Stair to upper floor of Guest House.

width reduced and some other means of spanning the opening and supporting the wall above was found for which there is no visible evidence (Fig. 30) . An attempt was made to regain the width by partly rebuilding the south jamb as indicated by contrasting mortars (fig. 31). This appears to show that the provision of a hearth at first floor level was an afterthought. The lack of any provision for the first floor suggests that the floor was similarly the result of a change of plan. It must be assumed that the building was originally envisaged as a reception building of some sort. The tall narrow openings on the west side are too narrow to be cart entrances and the general lack of rebates for doors and the former raised sills indicate that most of the openings were windows as Martin says (Martin 1934, 258) but there is no indication of frames or glazing grooves. It appears that only bay 4 was used as a doorway as suggested by the widened jamb, a rebate on the north jamb, the lack of evidence of a former sill and because it is considerably wider than any of the other openings. The building may originally have served as a simple shelter. However, the elegance and expanse of the tall narrow windows indicate that the ground floor was the original reception room for guests and pilgrims. The one ground floor fireplace at the north end may well have been supplemented by a principal hearth below the present first floor fireplace. This would explain the rebuilding of the masonry in that area where the original flue had to be filled in and widened to give the necessary support for the first floor hearth. The southern end of the hall is likely to have been divided off by a screen.


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Fig. 26. Guest House exterior from (bays 1-3)

Fig. 27. Internal face of west wall from north east (Bays 2-5). Former flue and blocking of hearth to right.


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Fig.28. Arch to window in bay 1

Fig.29.Hearth and edges of flue at B9 above. The hearth bricks are replacements. (SRH )


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Fig.30. Interior view of bay 4 looking west, showing arch springing to left and no corresponding skew to right.

Fig. 31. Original mortar to right early rebuilding to left.


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Fig. 32. East wall interior from form south west. Blocked openings D8 to D11. (DSW)

Fig. 33. Plan of east wall, drawn scale 1:50.

The east wall of the barn has six ground floor openings four of which are in the central bay (bay 3). Five of these have been blocked leaving only the door into the room under the stair open (Figs. 32 and 33). The windows D7 and D8 are similar to the tall narrow clunch-dressed openings on the west elevation. These two windows have rough flint voussoirs on the exterior (Fig. 34).


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Fig. 34. Blocked doorwayD7 from exterior. Fig. 35. Arch springing for D9 from north east An area of exposed original core work with the typical brown mortar follows to the north. From this an arch springing of clunch ashlar occurs at a markedly lower level (Fig.35). The north respond for this arch was presumably part of the narrow area of original masonry between D9 and D10. The blocking of this arch incorporated a doorway which itself has been

Fig 36. Arch springing for D10 Fig. 37. Internal elevation D10 & 11 blocked. All that survives of D10 is part of the brick relieving arch and fragmentary splayed reveal at a similar level to the characteristic tall openings and of a similar width (Figs 36 & 37). However, immediately to the north is a blocked doorway (D11) defined at its north jamb by a clear straight joint which discontinues at roughly 1.8 metres from the ground. Its south jamb of which a small fraction has been revealed 850mm to the south (Fig. 37) conflicts with the supposed position of the north jamb of D10. It must be assumed that D10 had its sill


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above the head of the door at about 2m from the ground or else it was built after a blocking of the doorway. The north jamb at D11 is a straight joint exactly in line with a recess on the side of the exterior buttress B3 (Figs. 33 & 38). This buttress appears to have been rebuilt or partially rebuilt with particularly disturbed masonry at the top (Fig. 39). It corresponds to the massive inserted corbel on the interior and it is probable that the disturbed masonry was caused by inserting the beam which was not only resting on the corbel but also housed in the masonry of the wall. Rubble voussoirs corresponding to the doorway D11 survive (Fig. 39).

Fig. 38. Recess in side of buttress Fig 39. Buttress on East Elevation. The blocking of these openings is recessed to about half the thickness of the wall and is flush with the external face. The blocking masonry is of coursed flint with very large flints where it abuts the sides of the opening. The blocking of the doorway in D9 is of poorly laid random flints. To the south of this is an area of irregular blocking with original core work linked to 18th –century infill with brick headers. The area is bordered to the south by a straight break in the flint work (Fig. 33) which marks the edge of the robbed ashlar respond for D9. There is no evidence of a ground floor opening in the north east bay (bay 4). However there is the clear evidence of a former primary narrow wall projecting from the internal surface (Fig. 33) and slight disturbance caused by the insertion of the 18th-century gazebo niche. The reconstruction drawing of the west walk of the cloister (Fig. 2) is entirely conjectural and the guest house could have acted as a west range to the cloister to which it was parallel yet slightly set back from square. There is no indication of the abutments of the north or west walks against the guest house and Martin suggests (Martin 1934, 255) a possibility of there having been a yard to the east of the hall with a lean-to walk to the east of the yard. This would have had the practical advantage of separating access to the hall for guests from the great cloister and creating a square garth. The tall windows in the east elevation clearly indicate that there was such a space. The southernmost bay (1) contains the stair (Fig. 25) with the entrance to the first floor above. Corroboration for seeing the first floor as a change of plan is a straight joint hidden


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behind the facing which came to light during the repairs (Fig. 40). It clearly reveals a jamb to the south side of the joint and blocking to the north. It is interesting to note that the facing flint was uninterrupted by the joint and only came to light when the loose facing was removed. Blocking to the north side of the joint is well keyed and contemporary with the facing and to the south a narrow vertical channel had no facing and shows evidence of having been against a flat surface such as ashlar. Further south, core and facing are present. It is quite likely that there was a tall narrow doorway of a type similar to D7 and D8 adjacent. The evidence of the ashlar dressing was revealed when the facing was removed. To all intents and purposes it shows the staircase and consequently the upper floor to be the result of a change of plan.

Fig. 40. Straight joint beneath upper entrance in bay 1 from west (DSW).

The gable-ends survive almost in their entirety. They show no sign of the change of plan and no evidence of a lower original gable (Figs 41 & 43). However, there are two slightly raised courses of knapped flint work in line with the second set of putlog holes. There is a stone stringcourse at the foot of the north gable and a stone kneeler at its west side. There are the remains of staged angle buttresses on the west corner of the gable-end (B5 & 6), whilst on the east side there is no buttress but the broken off extension of what must have been an original wall enclosing the cloister (B4). However, it does not line up perfectly with the surviving wall further east. It finishes at mid height and the corner continues with ashlar quoins. This broken off wall abutment retains details of interest giving the impression that there was some form of arched feature springing from the top courses (Fig.42). One brick with a hollow-chamfered edge is placed at the angle of a voussoir and the springing of an arch, with brickwork above echoing it, is clearly visible. The arch would have been at a similar height to the tall arches of the side walls but possibly not quite so shallow. The archway would have provided the entrance to the conjectured east yard which gave access to the building through the arch in bay 3 (see above).


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Fig.41. North gable–end exterior

An inhabitable apartment occupied the northernmost bay. It was divided by partitions above and below the former transverse beam supported on elaborate corbels. This beam also supported the joists of an upper floor which were housed in the surviving sockets in the masonry of the gable-end (Fig.43). A lower set of sockets to each side of a blank centre area are of unknown purpose. In a hole in the masonry at the upper level of the west elevation a flue can be noticed incorporated in the thickness of the wall. It took smoke from the large hearth at ground level which has been comprehensively blocked with markedly coursed masonry incorporating brick headers (Fig. 27). The entrance to this apartment was probably through a doorway in the partition dividing the hall from the dwelling. This must have become impractical and a doorway (D1) was squeezed through the wall at the north west corner next to the former tall window (Fig. 44). It was clearly not an option to have the doorway in an easier position on the east side or in the gable-end. The blocked doorway has the remains of chamfered ashlar dressings and was probably a fairly early alteration, possibly as a result of the change of plan. A close examination of the corbels which supported the transverse beam has revealed differences in mortar and the use of packing flints which show that they were insertions not part of the original design (Fig. 45). This would mean that the large fireplace would have served to heat the northern half of the original guest hall and that the apartment was incorporated when the plan changed. It is possible that the north bay was the first phase of providing a floor and that the corbels were inserted to carry a very large beam with the intention of doing the same at regular intervals the whole length of the building. A hypothesis is that this technique was abandoned owing to the unavailability of suitable timber for such a wide span or because of the disruption which would be caused by knocking holes in the walls to insert beams. Therefore it was decided instead to use posts or

Fig. 42. Arch springing at the top of former wall now buttress B4.


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stanchions to carry the floor for which the joists could have been fairly short, only having to span between the uprights.

Fig. 43. North gable-end interior

Fig.44 Door D1 Fig. 45. Inserted corbel to west. Mortar change The south gable-end is dominated by a large window with surviving stubs of Perpendicular tracery (W5) (Figs.46 & 47). Its external face is largely obscured by the modern house which abuts it. The window provided light to the guest hall. It is formed of a brick two-centred arch hidden on the exterior by the stone tracery and hood mould.


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Fig. 46. South gable-end of hostry from south west. (DSW)

Fig. 47. South gable-end from north .


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Fig. 48. Doorway in south gable-end of hostry

At the centre of the ground floor level of the gable-end there is a doorway with ashlar jambs supporting a shallow two-centred arch of brick with a limestone key (Fig. 48). The curious position of the door itself is to do with its connection to the modern house and the exaggerated splay is largely a blocking of the much larger opening. The use of a keystone is not normal medieval practice suggesting the possibility that the doorway is a later insertion. The upper storey adopts the changed plan and so do, possibly, the depressed arches of the ground floor openings which accommodate the floor. A change in the character of the masonry can be seen moving to a more coursed product. The level of the change can be clearly seen along the interior of the west elevation just above the arches (Fig. 27). Windows surrounded the upper storey and the remains of seven windows survive. Apart from the great south window only two windows (W4 & W6) at the north end are enclosed in masonry and the brick arch survives above the upper doorway (W1) (Fig.25). The others survive as jambs only. W6 has been reduced and has recently installed timber lintels. W4 is comprehensively blocked. The other windows have slightly splayed jambs and the internal corners are dressed with brick. The bricks were not cut to accommodate irregular angles leaving a distinct stepped pattern (Fig. 49). The bricks themselves are typical highly-fired medieval bricks of quite large dimensions.


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Fig. 49. Brick jamb dressing to upper doorway (W1)

Fig. 50. Top of guest hall flue from south east.


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The top of the flue to the guest hall hearth survives enough to imagine the original complex arrangement (Fig. 50). The west side of the flue stands as a direct extension of buttress B9. The flue itself is still well defined between the two broken-off sides and it still has some plaster adhering. The coping of this wall top was of bricks on edge forming a semi-circular or segmental gable well below the eaves of the building. The bricks of the arch are supported on limestone corbels each decorated with a hollow roll. The east side of the flue was of course the west wall of the hall and the connecting side walls thickened to form a tapering flue. The smoke would have escaped possibly via a tall brick shaft which, as the top of the flue is well below the level of the wall plate, the lower part could have been engaged. Modern repairs and adaptations to the guest house include the reinforced concrete arch and the masonry above in bay 5; the wall behind the shed which has been plastered with gypsum; the installation of a fireplace in the vaulted room beneath the stair (D6). The blocking up of the fireplace and the rebuilding of the masonry around it in the north room was a major intervention and disguises any indication of the former hearth (Fig. 27).Portland cement has been used for local repairs. At the extreme north end of the east elevation (bay 4) is a shallow niche which must have served as a seat (Fig. 51). It is well sheltered and south facing and must have afforded a fine view of the gardens and ruins. It is an interesting post medieval insertion probably of the late 18th century.

Fig. 51. Niche in bay 4 .

The post medieval vicissitudes of the ruins are recorded in engravings. Figure 52 is a view from the west (not south) showing some features of interest which are no longer extant or visible. The tall piece of masonry covered in ivy to the south of the ruins may relate to the missing south range or to a separate lodge. In Martin’s day the ground to the south of the little cloister had earthworks concealing the foundations of other buildings (Martin 1934, 262-3). The engraving also shows the house which existed before the present, larger one. The house may still exist enclosed by the present large house. This house abuts the south wall of the guest hall demolishing the buttress which abutted the south west corner. No doorway is shown in the south wall of the guest house.


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Fig. 52. Engraving by M. Booth after Repton of 1780

Summary and Significance This account describes and discusses the Franciscan Friary with particular accent on the hostry. It covers the excavations undertaken in 1932 and questions are raised concerning its interpretation. This is an important survival of friary remains – a type of medieval monastic establishment which leaves very few surviving examples because they were founded on the whole in towns, where the pressure for development swept away friaries as soon as they were dissolved in the 16th century At Walsingham the friary is in a rural setting and despite the thorough demolition of the church several of the conventual buildings survive and demonstrate the special design features which are characteristic of English mendicant order monasteries (Fig. 53):

• The absence of transepts yet a sort of crossing dividing nave from choir. • This was called the ‘walking place’. The passage accommodated between the nave

and choir which leads from the exterior to the cloister. It was surmounted by a narrow octagonal tower (Fig.33).

• The leaving of space between the church and the cloister with a covered walk from walking place to cloister walk.

• The cloister walk contained within the range. At Walsingham especially well demonstrated in the little cloister south, north and above all east walks and the south and possibly the east walk s of the great cloister.

These special features particular to friaries are confined to Britain and are not found in the many friaries elsewhere in Europe (Martin, 1937, 40). .


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Fig. 53. Plan of Franciscan friary churches nearly all with ‘walking places’ (Martin 1937)

Of special interest at Walsingham is the way the builders dealt with the sloping site with many of the walls acting as retaining walls holding raised floor levels. An oddity is the provision of two cloisters. Was this a way of getting the accommodation needed within the narrow piece of land? Was the little cloister more of an infirmary? Or was it a more select cloister for senior friars? Features of particular presence are the great gables of the frater and guest house and of particular interest are the change of plan to the guest house, its tall and narrow windows which lit the hall (phase I), the wide staircase which led to the guest hall (phase II), the apparent lack of provision for the first floor and the remarkable survival of the top section of the chimney flue. The surviving timber of the hatch device in the little cloister east walk with provision for shutters are a rare survival and worthy of special note. The ruins provide the classic melancholic comfort accentuated by the fairly rugged setting; a quality recognised by later occupiers of the site and which led to their preservation and to some minor works of consolidation. Other surviving remains of friaries can fill-in details especially of the church building. There are only three surviving Franciscan friary steeples and evidence, as at Walsingham, in 16 others in England (Martin 1937, 18). All that survives of the Greyfriars’ church at King’s Lynn is, in fact, the bell tower (Fig. 6). The tower is octagonal rising above the walking place with a stair turret at one angle: a fair representation of what may have existed at Walsingham (NHER 5477). Standing ruined quires survive at Winchelsea and Chichester (Martin, 1937, 54-63, 143-7 exhibiting the very large windows which are characteristic of all friary churches. Fragments of aisled naves have been excavated at various sites. They would have had tall arcades with large windows in the aisles allowing as much light as possible (Fig.53). The best surviving example of this is at the Dominican Friary in Norwich (Figs 5 & 54).

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Bibliography D. Knowles & R N Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses: England and Wales, London 1971 A R Martin, ‘The Greyfriars of Walsingham’ Norfolk Archaeology, XXV pt. 2, 1934, pp227 – 271. A R Martin, ‘Franciscan Architecture in England’ British Society of Franciscan Studies, XVIII, 1937. K. Morrison, The Chapterhouse, St Mary’s Friary, Little Walsingham, (draft report), English Heritage, 2014. Norfolk Historic Environment Record (NHER) William Page (ed.) History of the County of Norfolk, Victoria County History, volume II p. 435. C. Parkin (F. Blomefield), An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, vol IX, p.281. H. Sutermeister, The Norwich Blackfriars: An Historical Guide to the Friary and its Buildings up to the Present Day, Norwich 1977. Stephen Heywood FSA. January 2014, expanded September 2014

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