Monument record MLI12650 - The Grey Friars or Franciscan Friary, Boston

Summary

The Grey Friars or Franciscan friary, Boston.

Type and Period (4)

Protected Status/Designation

Full Description

A Franciscan friary was established in Boston before 1268 and surrendered in 1539. The site of the friary extended over the gardens north of the grammar school. Remains of this house could be identified. Greyfriars Yard is mentioned in 1627, as being of 6 acres. Set in the wall of one of the houses in Spain Court at TF 3290 4390 is a sepulchral slab that was dug up on the site of the friary towards the end of the 18th century. {1}{2}{3}{4}{5} The site of the Franciscan friary. The tombstone of Wisselus de Smalenburg (of Munster) was found in about 1850 (now in Boston church). {6}{7} Hilary Healey for Boston Archaeological Group reports that excavations took place in Mactaggarts garden on the site of the supposed friary. A series of excavation boxes laid out on a grid system failed to reveal any structures up to a depth of 5ft and work was discontinued. The pottery and finds ranged from medieval to 19th century, with most ware types common to Boston and to the district represented including: two fairly complete cooking pots, one shell-gritted and one French with speckled green glaze; a clay pipe bowl with a finely modelled horse's head as a spur; two sherds of French polychrome; a small pearl-headed pin: one sherd of a yellow-green lobed cup; a buff gritty unglazed handle, slashed and stabbed. {8}{9} During work at Boston Grammar School part of the former cemetery of the Franciscan friary was uncovered at TF 32934 379. Five skeletons were exposed and all the bodies were orientated east-west with the heads to the west. {10}{11} During a watching brief on groundworks for a new music and arts block on the south-east side of an existing school range (TF 3301 4370) a further ten burials were exposed and exhumed. These burials occurred within the area of the Franciscan friary cemetery which is known to have been large. The burials included women and children, so the cemetery was not used solely for the internment of Franciscan friars. Two clusters of burials have been exposed on the site, one in the north-west, and the other in the south-east. The south-west and central areas of the site contained no burials, but contained much domestic waste and fragments of an undated possible floor surface. {12}{13}

Sources/Archives (13)

  •  Index: OS CARD INDEX. BOSTON. TF 34 SW:4;3,1965, D.A..
  •  Bibliographic Reference: D. Knowles and R.N. Hadcock. 1953. Medieval Religious Houses: England and Wales - First Edition. P 189.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Pishey Thompson. 1856. The Histories and Antiquities of Boston. P 112-3 & 233.
  •  Map: Ordnance Survey. 1902-06. 25 Inch County Series Map - Second Edition. 1:2500. TF 34 SW.
  •  Map: OS. 1889. OS 1:500 SERIES. 109:9:24.
  •  Index: SMR FILE. BOSTON. TF 34 SW:AI -.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: William White. 1856. History, Gazetteer and Directory of Lincolnshire - Second Edition. P 280.
  •  Article in Serial: J.B. Whitwell (ed.). 1966. 'Archaeological Notes, 1964 and 1965' in Lincolnshire History and Archaeology. P 42.
  •  Index: SMR FILE. BOSTON. TF 34 SW:G -.
  •  Report: Pre-Construct Archaeology. 1996. Boston Grammar School: Archaeological Evaluation Report. BGS96.
  •  Archive: Pre-Construct Archaeology. 1996. Boston Grammar School: Archaeological Evaluation. LCNCC 102.96.
  •  Report: Pre-Construct Archaeology. 1998. Boston Grammar School: Archaeological Watching Brief Report. BGS97.
  •  Archive: Pre-Construct Archaeology. 1998. Boston Grammar School: Archaeological Watching Brief. LCNCC 102.96.

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Location

Grid reference TF 3293 4379 (point)
Civil Parish BOSTON, BOSTON, LINCOLNSHIRE

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Record last edited

Mar 21 2021 8:35PM

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