Greyfriars

The Franciscan house of Greyfriars was founded in 1231 on land granted by Lord Berkeley. It was one of three Gloucester monasteries supported by Henry III. Having been crowned king here - the only English monarch to be crowned outside London since the Conquest - he was attached to the city and religiously inclined. Thus he granted oaks from the Forest of Dean for the building of Blackfriars, Whitefriars and Greyfriars.

By 1285 the the forty mendicant (begging) friars - who had all taken vows of poverty, chastity and obedience - were locked into a series of disputes with the monks of St Peter's. This culminated in a quarrel over their shared water supply in the 14th century which had to be settled by Edward the Black Prince. The Franciscans won.

In 1518 the church was rebuilt in its present form, again with the help of the Berkeley family. For a mendicant order the layout, with nave and north aisle of almost equal height and width, is the only example in this country.

There were only five friars left at the Dissolution in 1538. On their departure the church - with its excellent water supply - became a brewery. In the Siege of Gloucester the structure was damaged by artillery fire and by 1721 the chancels and cloisters were gone. It was turned into dwellings and at one point it was a lodging house for sailors. In 1810 Greyfriars House - now a library - was built into one end. It finished its days as a wine merchants before being declared a monument in the 1960s.