Preston’s Franciscan Friary history now online

Following on from yesterday’s post about the Roman settlement at Walton-le-Dale, here is a similar account of Preston’s medieval friary.

‘Brothers Minor: Lancashire’s Lost Franciscans – Investigations at Preston Friary, 1991 and 2007’ by Jeremy Bradley and Stephen Rowland is a detailed analysis (more than 100 pages) of the archaeological excavations that preceded the construction of Ringway and Brunel Court.

It has now been put online by Oxford Archaeology.

I’ve included here some extracts from their monograph and a few of the illustrations to give a flavour of the contents.

Preston … was one of the most important medieval boroughs in the north-west of England. Increasing prosperity during the nineteenth century, however, meant that most of its early heritage was lost to redevelopment and, to date, it has yielded little archaeological evidence of its medieval past.

However, in 1991 and 2007, development-led excavations just to the north-west of the historic town centre revealed significant medieval remains. Although badly damaged by later development, these included the foundations of a substantial stone building with evidence for several internal features. Evidence from associated finds, including painted window glass and line-impressed floor tiles, suggested that it was ecclesiastical in origin.

The western part of the building was the best preserved, and excavation showed it to have accommodated at least four rows of east/west-aligned burials; several more were identified immediately outside the building, and two groups of cut features further to the east and west are probably the remnants of other graves, hinting at an extensive cemetery to the north of the building.

Analysis, funded by English Heritage (now Historic England), has allowed these truncated and fragmentary remains to be identified as the last remnant of Preston’s Franciscan friary, which was founded on the outskirts of Preston in c 1260, and remained in use until it was closed in 1539, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII.

If the building was part of the friary church, then it is likely that the burials are those of wealthy patrons, who had been interred in a side chapel or transept, appended to its north side. This work has also allowed other, less coherent, structural evidence, identified in 1991, to be interpreted as elements of the church, parts of the cloister or claustral ranges, or perhaps service buildings, lying to the south, thus permitting the full size of the friary precinct to be better understood.

The well-preserved nature of many of the burials provided an unusual opportunity for scientific analysis, including radiocarbon dating of the human remains, dendrochronological dating of the coffins, and osteological analysis of the skeletons. Drawn together, these individual strands provided a rich picture of the lives and appearance of the friars and their patron families, throughout the life of the Friary.

Although no physical remains could be associated with the south range, cartographic and documentary evidence strongly suggest that, after the dissolution of the Friary, parts of it remained in use, first as a private house belonging to the Breres family, later (from c 1680 to 1789) used as a ‘house of correction’. Much altered, it survived into the mid-nineteenth century, serving finally as part of the Canal Foundry, before being demolished, when its site was effectively lost.

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The evidence from Brunel court makes it clear that the excavations revealed significant medieval remains which are, within an urban context, rare in the north West, … and unprecedented within Preston. Although heavily truncated, frequently disturbed, often poorly preserved, and, at times, disparate, they still form a coherent and inter-related entity, thus representing a highly significant contribution to the archaeology of the region.

There are few stratified, datable, artefacts, but in combination with scientific dating of the skeletons, their wooden coffins, and some other artefacts, they indicate that the principal activity dates from the later thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries, with a marked dearth of finds from any later period.

The most significant structural element found was the poorly preserved remnant of what seems to have been a stone building, constructed on well-laid cobble footings, and reinforced with buttresses, which contained a group of well-dated burials. Any substantial stone structure would be notable in a northern medieval town, where the majority of the buildings, even those of the wealthy, would most likely have been of timber construction.

Thus it is likely to imply elevated status, and resources that were enjoyed by only the wealthiest individuals, municipal bodies, parish churches, or other religious houses.

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The combined weight of evidence: archaeological; historical; anecdotal; and cartographic, indicates that the remains found at, and around, Brunel court, relate to Preston’s Franciscan friary. The findings are highly significant, particularly within the context of the north West, since only two other Franciscan friaries, at Chester and Carlisle, are known from the region, and neither has been extensively excavated

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Here’s the link to the full monograph: https://knowledge.oxfordarchaeology.com/library/12276