Greyfriars

The Franciscans were settled in Chester by Albert of Pisa, the minister of the English province, in 1237 or 1238. According to Thomas of Eccleston their settlement met with considerable opposition and it seems that Alexander Stavensby, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield (1224-38), feared that there would be insufficient alms forthcoming from the citizens of Chester to support both the Franciscans and the Dominicans, who were already settled there.

The Franciscan friary occupied a walled, rectangular site of approximately seven acres to the north of Watergate Street; it was bounded on the west by the city wall and on the east by Linenhall Street and was entered by a gate-house at the southern end of Linenhall Street.