Monument record MLI30620 - The Dominican Friary (Blackfriars), Stamford

Summary

The Dominican Friary (Blackfriars) in Stamford.

Type and Period (3)

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Full Description

The Dominican Friary stood between the walls of the town and the river, near Water Gate. It was established before 1241 and was dissolved in 1538. Part of the church was still standing in 1600. {1}{2}{3} Trial trenching in June 1974 produced medieval to post-medieval pottery, medieval roof and floor tiles and substantial stone foundations. There are notes and sketches of the artefacts recovered from the site. {4}{5}{6} The general area of the friary can be located without difficulty although the exact position of the buildings is unclear. Speed's map shows the buildings were lying to the south-east of St George’s Gate, in an area bounded by St Leonard's Street, Adelaide Street, Belton Street and Cherryholt Road. It was a very large house with up to 42 brethren. After the dissolution of the house, some of the buildings were demolished and a large house was built on the site. Stukeley refers to a church, tower and precinct wall all surviving in his day. {7}{8} Human remains were discovered in August 2018, during groundworks for the construction of a replacement extension to the rear of 4 Adelaide Street. The inhumation was inspected by staff from Lincolnshire County Council's Historic Places team, and was believed to be medieval in date. The skeleton was contained within an east to west aligned grave cut, with the arms tight against the body, suggesting it had been wrapped in a burial shroud. It was thought very likely to be associated with the former Dominican Friary (Blackfriars), known to have extended across this area of Stamford. The skeleton was largely complete, although had suffered some impact during its discovery and the bones were generally soft and firable. No foot bones were noted, although these may have extended beyond the area excavated, or been removed by previous disturbance. The teeth appeared to be heavily worn, particularly the molars, perhaps suggesting an older individual or someone with a poorer diet of abrasive foods. The remains were left in situ following recording, with the building design modified so as not to further disturb the burial. {9}

Sources/Archives (9)

  •  Index: Ordnance Survey. Ordnance Survey Card Index. TF 00 NW: 13.
  •  Article in Serial: NEVINSON, C.. 1879. 'HISTORY OF STAMFORD' in JOURNAL OF THE BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION. p.32.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: William Page (ed). 1906. The Victoria County History: Lincolnshire - Volume 2. vol.2, p.226.
  •  Index: Lincolnshire County Council. Sites and Monuments Record Card Index. TF 00 NW: -.
  •  Unpublished Document: PARISH FILE. STAMFORD. Pottery.
  •  Article in Serial: C.N. Moore (ed.). 1975. 'Archaeology in Lincolnshire, 1974' in Lincolnshire History and Archaeology. vol.10, pp.61-2.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Hartley, J.S. and Rogers, A.. 1974. The Religious Foundations of Medieval Stamford. pp.61-2.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: D. Knowles and R.N. Hadcock. 1971. Medieval Religious Houses: England and Wales - Second Edition. p.219.
  •  Unpublished Document: Lincolnshire County Council. 2018. Human Remains Found at Adelaide Street, Stamford. -.

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Location

Grid reference Centred TF 0345 0720 (171m by 128m) (2 map features)
Civil Parish STAMFORD, SOUTH KESTEVEN, LINCOLNSHIRE

Related Monuments/Buildings (2)

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Record last edited

Jan 17 2023 10:15AM

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