Blackfriars

Historic Blackfriars
The Dominicans were established in Chester by 1237 or 1238 when the appearance of the Grey Friars alarmed their patron, Alexander Stavensby, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. So vehement was his reaction to the prospect of the two orders competing for alms that he has been thought responsible for establishing the Dominicans in Chester, although there is no definite evidence and it is equally possible that they came there under the patronage of Ranulph III, earl of Chester. Other sources suggest there is evidence that Henry III founded the friary and that it was under royal patronage. The earliest documentary reference to Blackfriars as a street, dates to the mid-fourteenth century and describes a laneway separating the Black friars precinct from that of St Mary's nunnery to the south. Pigot writes:


 * "The Blackfriars stood on the west side of the north end of Nicholas street where now is a curious ancient mansion chiefly composed of carved wood and with the date 1591 still visible; this formerly belonged to the Stanley family and was their town residence."

The friary occupied c. 5½ acres bounded by Watergate Street to the north, Nicholas Street to the east, Walls' Lane (or Black Friars) to the south, and the City Walls now Nuns Road to the west. The precinct was bisected by an alley (known as Greyfriars) leading from the east gate to the west gate. The discovery of human remains indicates that the graveyard, and possibly the church, lay in the south-west section of the site. It is generally believed that no traces of the buildings remain, but there are a few boundary walls in the area that are founded on rather more massive stonework which may be a relic of the friary. During the excavation of a continuous trench along the Nun's Road to repair a gas main in 2006, a small east - west aligned section of a medieval wall was recorded at the intersection of Nun's Road and Blackfriars. Although the precise nature of this wall was not determined, the excavators suggested it could have been part of a precinct wall between the Benedictine Nunnery and the Dominican Friary. Alternately, it may have been part of the medieval town's defensive circuit or part of an independent defensive structure.

Before the arrival of the friars, there was a chapel dedicated to St Nicholas on the site; there are known references to a chaplain of St Nicholas, who witnessed several documents during the 1220s, and it is reasonable to assume that the friars used the chapel before their church was constructed, and then adopted the dedication for their house. Some time after its founding, St Werburgh’s and St John’s (who between them controlled all burial rights in the city), agreed to take two-thirds of the revenue of people wishing to be buried in the Black friars precinct.

They secured their own Water Supply in 1276, after receiving permission to build a pipeline from the spring at Boughton. Naturally, there is extensive documentary evidence that provides an impression of the success and growth of the friary: in 1274, Edward I ordered the Justice of Chester to continue a payment of 40d a week to the Black friars and these 'ancient alms' of 8 13s 4d continued into the reign of Henry VII. Palmer suggests that payment began by Henry III from foundation of Friary (above). In 1291, they received 100s from Queen Eleanor's executors, and the Black Prince made grants of alms in 1353 and in 1358 to all three friaries in Chester.

In 1361, the precinct appears to have expanded, as they were licensed to acquire the plot of land next to their garden, perhaps for extension of certain precinct buildings. Certain buildings were still lacking in 1467 when ten new plots were bequeathed towards their cost and some rebuilding was undertaken during the last years of the community. In 1384, the friars were granted the privilege of grinding corn and malt free of toll at the king's mills for ten years and in 1395 this privilege was granted in perpetuity. The Dominicans do not appear to have been as locally popular as the other two mendicant orders; for example, between 1400 and 1540 they are mentioned only in 25 out of 53 local wills. The house generally well ordered, but in the mid-fifteenth century the Dominicans were involved with Carmelites in riots and in 1454 accused of attacking servant of the Abbot of Chester. At the time of the Dissolution, it does not appear to have been large: the house was the smallest of those at Chester in 1538, with only five members. Previously, in the fourteenth century, it was said that there were 38 friars but this is thought to have been an exaggeration.

In the years before the Dissolution, the friars made long leases of gardens, orchards and tenements surrounding the house. The Dissolution inventory lists their possessions, and mentions site of church, with alley, site of old hall, dormitory, two cloisters, chapter house and frater, and mentions many houses, cottages, gardens and orchards. In 1543 the conventual buildings were leased to Thomas Smith of Chester for a period of 21 years, and in 1561, the site came into the possession of the Dutton family.

The rim of a bone spectacle frame was found on the site of the Dominican Friary in Chester. It is one of only a few examples excavated in this country and was perhaps imported from the Low Countries either directly or via London, alternatively a spectacle maker was recorded working in London in the mid-fifteenth century. Age related long sightedness would have presented a serious problem for literate clerics at a time when spectacles were not widely available.