Great Yarmouth Grey Friary was a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

monastic house in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

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 ...

which was under the Custody of Cambridge. The monastery was founded c.1226 by Sir William Garbridge, enlarged in 1285 and 1290, and dissolved in 1538 as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries under

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

. It was then granted to

Richard Williams (alias Cromwell) Sir Richard Williams ( – 20 October 1544), also known as Sir Richard Cromwell, was a Welsh soldier and courtier in the reign of Henry VIII who knighted him on 2 May 1540. He was a maternal nephew of Thomas Cromwell, profiting from the Dissol ...

, in 1541/2, leased in 1582 as a lodging for important visitors, and part used by local civilian militia. The site was sold to John Woodroffe in 1657, later divided and sold and the monastic remains incorporated into 17th century and later buildings. The remains of the cloister were opened up in the late 19th century, with other remains restored in 1945 and thereafter. The ruins, comprising the west range of the cloisters and fragments of the south wall of the church, are Grade I listed.

References

Franciscan monasteries in England Monasteries in Norfolk Great Yarmouth Grade I listed buildings in Norfolk {{UK-Christian-monastery-stub