Greyfriars, Dunwich was a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friary in

Dunwich Dunwich () is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon ...

in the

English county The counties of England are a type of subdivision of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are three definitions of county in England: the 48 ceremonial counties used for the purpo ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

. The friary was founded before 1277 by Richard FitzJohn and his wife Alice and dissolved in 1538. The original site, which had 20 friars in 1277 when it first appears in records, was threatened by

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of Wind wave, waves, Ocean current, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts ...

and the friary was moved inland in 1289. Many of the buildings are believed to have been destroyed on dissolution, with the remains used as a house, a town hall and a jail at various times. Modern remains consist of a precinct wall, two gatehouses and some two-storey walls believed to be the remains of a cloister building, possibly a refectory or infirmary building. DunwichGreyfriarsGateway

The site was partly excavated in the 1930s and 1990s, with geophysical surveys being carried out on the site. The site was surveyed in 2011 as part of a dig by archaeological television programme ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4, Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned in 2022 on online platforms YouTube and Patreon. Created by television produce ...

''. A geophysical survey using

ground-penetrating radar Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. It is a non-intrusive method of surveying the sub-surface to investigate underground utilities such as concrete, asphalt, metals, pipes, cables ...

confirmed a range of wall features and other anomalies in the precinctGreyfriars
Dunwich Museum. Retrieved 2014-02-23. and trenches uncovered carved medieval stonework and medieval window glass fragments.Dunwich, Suffolk - archaeological evaluation and assessment of results
Wessex Archaeology, May 2012. Retrieved 2014-02-23.Dig report: Dunwich
''Time Team'', Channel 4. Retrieved 2014-02-23. Geophysical surveys suggest that the friary church may have been up to 60 metres in length. Some restoration work was carried out in 2008, including the strengthening of some buildings and repair of collapsed section of the precinct wall.Priory in 'lost' town is restored
BBC news website, 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2014-02-24. The site was then placed on the

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

,Heritage at Risk Register 2011 - East of England

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

, 2011. Retrieved 2014-02-24. leading to a £250,000 restoration project in 2012 by

and

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Governme ...

.Ruins in Dunwich and Clare given £400,000 for restoration
BBC news website, 2012-07-30. Retrieved 2014-02-23.Dunwich Greyfriars site taken over by charitable trust
BBC news website, 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2014-02-23. The management of the site was taken over by a local voluntary group, the Dunwich Greyfriars Trust, in October 2013.New future for Dunwich Greyfriars
, Suffolk County Council, 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2014-02-23. The transfer occurred after budget cuts by the county council meant that the running costs would no longer be met by the council.Suffolk County Council plans to cut country parks
BBC news website, 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2014-02-23. The remains are classified as a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and most of the site as a

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

.Remains of Grey Friars Monastery, Dunwich
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2014-02-23.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Dunwich Greyfriars Trust
Friaries in Suffolk Grade II* listed buildings in Suffolk Dunwich Ruins in Suffolk

See also

References

External links