Greyfriars, Grayfriars or Gray Friars is a term for Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, in particular, the Conventual Franciscans. The term often refers to buildings or districts formerly associated with the order.

Former Friaries

Greyfriars, Bedford Greyfriars was a monastic house in Bedford, England. The house of the Grey Friars (or Franciscan friars) was founded either by Mabilea de Plateshull (Lady Mabel de Pattishall) (according to Leland) or John St. John (according to '' Valor Ecclesia ...

Greyfriars, Beverley Greyfriars, Beverley was a Franciscan friary in Beverley, the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was established before 1267, probably by John de Hightmede, but the exact date is not known. Originally located within the town walls near today's S ...

, Yorkshire, England *

Greyfriars, Bristol Greyfriars, in Bristol, England, was a Franciscan friary. The name Greyfriars derived from the grey robes worn by the friars. It was founded at some time before 1234, within the town walls and then moved to Lewin's Mead in 1250. The site inclu ...

Greyfriars, Canterbury Greyfriars Greyfriars in Canterbury was the first Franciscan friary in England. The first Franciscans arrived in the country in 1224 (during the lifetime of the Order's founder St Francis of Assisi) and the friary was set up soon afterwards. The ...

, earliest English Franciscan friary *

Greyfriars, Coventry Greyfriars was a medieval Franciscan priory in Coventry, England. The original monastic buildings were lost in the Reformation; the spire standing on the site today was most recently part of a 19th-century church that was destroyed in an air rai ...

* Greyfriars, Dorchester * Greyfriars, Dunwich, dissolved in 1538 some ruins remain as a Scheduled Ancient Monument * Greyfriars, Gloucester, the ruins of a monastery, also a street named after the same * Greyfriars, Ipswich, founded before 1236, virtually nothing remains *

Greyfriars, King's Lynn Greyfriars, King's Lynn was a Franciscan friary in Norfolk, England. The tower, known as Greyfriars Tower () survives. It is one of only three surviving Franciscan monastery towers in England and is considered to be the finest. It is a Grade I li ...

, the tower survives and is a prominent local landmark *

Greyfriars, Lincoln The Greyfriars, Lincoln was a Franciscan friary in Lincolnshire, England. The surviving building is the remains of the infirmary of the friary, built of dressed stone and brick and dating from c.1230, with mid 19th century additions. History F ...

, former Franciscan friary; only the infirmary now survives * Greyfriars, Leicester, original burial place of Richard III of England * Greyfriars, London * GreyFriars, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, founded 1327, dissolved 1539; rebuilt as private residence, demolished 1832 * Greyfriars, Nottingham, founded 1224–1230, dissolved in 1539; nothing remains of the friary *

Greyfriars, Perth The Observant Order of Greyfriars"Perth, Can ...

Greyfriars, Richmond Greyfriars, Richmond was a friary in North Yorkshire, England. Its bell tower still survives and dates from the 15th century. Its establishment as a friary is attributed to Ralph Fitz Randall in 1258. His heart was buried there in 1270. During t ...

* Greyfriars, Shrewsbury *

Greyfriars, St Andrews Greyfriars was a religious house in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, in the later Middle Ages. The house was Franciscan (hence "grey friars"), of the Observant (as opposed to Conventual) kind). Founded by Bishop James Kennedy somewhere between 1463 a ...

, Fife, Scotland *

Greyfriars, Stamford Greyfriars, Stamford was a Franciscan friary in Lincolnshire, England. It was one of several religious houses in Stamford suppressed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. From documentary evidence the Franciscan Friary was established before ...

* Greyfriars, Winchelsea *

Greyfriars, Worcester Greyfriars, Worcester is a Grade I listed building in Worcester, England. Its location near to a former friary of the Franciscan order of Greyfriars has in the past led to speculation that it was constructed as their guest house, but it is now ...

* Greyfriars Monastery, Stockholm

Churches

* Christ Church Greyfriars, in London *

Greyfriars Church, Reading Greyfriars Church is an Low church, evangelical Anglican church (building), church, and former Franciscan friary, in the town centre of Reading, Berkshire, Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The church forms part of the Church of England' ...

* Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh

Other

Grey Friars F.C. Grey Friars F.C. was an English association football club based in London. History The club was founded in 1877, made up mostly of members of the now-defunct Saxons. Its players were mostly mercantile middle-class; club secretary Rutherford wa ...

, former football club, c.1870-1880 *

Greyfriars, Bristol (office block) Greyfriars is the alternate name of a fourteen-story office block built in 1974 in Lewin's Mead in Bristol. It was later used for government offices. The building takes its name from Greyfriars, a medieval Franciscan friary A monastery is ...

* Greyfriars Bobby, a renowned Edinburgh dog * Greyfriars bus station, former bus station in Northampton * Greyfriars Kirkyard, a graveyard in Edinburgh * Greyfriars, Oxford, a former Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford *

Greyfriars, Preston Greyfriars is a largely residential suburban area of Preston, Lancashire, England, and an Wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward. It is nowadays usually considered to be a district of the larger suburb of Fulwood, Lancashire, Fulwood (and fo ...

, an electoral ward in Lancashire *

, a Grade I listed building in Worcester, England

In fiction

* Greyfriars School, a fictional school which is the setting for Frank Richard's ''Billy Bunter'' stories {{disambig