Cambridge Blackfriars is a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was established in 1238, dissolved in 1538 and re-established in 1938. It continues to operate as a Dominican priory and, in 2000, became the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

house of the English Province of the

Order of Preachers The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

. The new site is at Buckingham Road, Cambridge, close to

Murray Edwards College Murray Edwards College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1954 as New Hall. In 2008, following a donation of £30 million by alumna Ros Edwards and her husband Steve, it was renamed Murray Edwar ...

. Two existing houses were linked by a new wing in 1961-2 designed by

David Roberts David or Dave Roberts may refer to: Arts and literature * David Roberts (painter) (1796–1864), Scottish painter * David Roberts (art collector), Scottish contemporary art collector * David Roberts (novelist), English editor and mystery writer ...

. The original house was offered to the Order in 1938 by the widow of Professor

Edward Bullough Edward Bullough (28 March 1880 – 17 September 1934) was an English aesthetician and scholar of modern languages, who worked at the University of Cambridge. He did experimental work on the perception of colours, and in his theoretical work intr ...

. The second house, Howfield, the family home of

Arthur Stanley Ramsey Arthur Stanley Ramsey (9 September 1867 – 31 December 1954) was a British mathematician and author of mathematics and physics textbooks. He was Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge, and its President from 1915–52. Biography The son of Re ...

, was bought in 1955. The medieval Dominican Friary was founded before 1238. At the time of its

dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

in 1538, there was a prior and fifteen others. The last prior Gregory Dodds was later Dean of Exeter. A friar John Scory in 1551 became a bishop in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. Emmanuel College was founded on the site in 1584 and the college's Front Court incorporates 14th-century work from the Friary, in the North Range and Hall. The statue of the

virgin and child In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent ...

now in the Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs in Cambridge is reputed to have been in the Dominican Friary before the dissolution. In 1538

John Hilsey John Hilsey (a.k.a. Hildesley or Hildesleigh; died 4 August 1539) was an English Dominican, prior provincial of his order, then an agent of Henry VIII and the English Reformation, and Bishop of Rochester. Life According to Anthony Wood, Hil ...

sent Gregory Dodds to

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...

, Henry VIII's chief minister, to request that the image of Our Lady of Grace be removed from the friary. The statue now in the church is said to have been discovered in Emmanuel College in 1850.

References

External links

Official site of the prioryEnglish Province of the Order of Preachers site
Monasteries in Cambridgeshire 1258 establishments in England Christian monasteries established in the 13th century 1538 disestablishments in England 1938 establishments in England 20th-century Christian monasteries Dominican monasteries in England Christianity in Cambridge Buildings and structures in Cambridge History of Cambridge {{UK-Christian-monastery-stub