Place    From 1260  To /11/1538

Austin Friars

Categories: Property, Religion

Augustinian friary just north-east of Bank, probably founded 1260ish, covering about 5.5 acres, it included a church, various other buildings for the accommodation of the friars and visitors, vegetable gardens, etc. Erasmus stayed here in 1513.

Thomas Cromwell developed a very grand house within the friary precincts which, on his downfall in 1540, was acquired by the crown and, 3 years later, sold to the Drapers Company for their Hall.

The friary suffered dissolution in 1538, on Cromwell's orders. The monastic buildings were replaced with a town house which survived until 1844, when it was turned into warehouses. In 1550 the nave of the church began to be used by foreigners, specifically the Dutch, and became the first official nonconformist chapel in England. The rest of the church was used for storage. Much was demolished in 1600 and then in 1862 a fire destroyed the rest. Reconstructed, it was destroyed in WW2 and rebuilt in the 50s.

The order was named for Saint Augustine of Hippo and so not connected to Augustine of Canterbury. From Augustinians in Britain : The Augustinian friars in Britain ceased to exist at the Reformation in the 16th century. After several attempts to re-introduce the Order, a mission, St Monica's, was established in the East End of London, at Hoxton Square, in 1864. From there the Augustinians re-established their presence throughout Britain.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Austin Friars

Commemorated ati

Austin Friar statue

{On the statue base, at the right:} T. Metcalfe 1989

Read More

Austin Friars & the Queens

To commemorate the visit by Their Majesties Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Beat...

Read More

Drapers' Hall

Drapers' Hall On this site, once part of the Augustine Priory, Thomas Cromwel...

Read More

St Monica's church and priory

The board is not visually very interesting so we photo'd the church window in...

Read More

Other Subjects

Buckingham House, College Hill

Buckingham House, College Hill

Built, possibly, in 1672 and still there in 1720 for John Strype to write: “.. on the East side of Colledge Hill is St. Michaels Royal Church, and almost over against the said Church, is Buckingham...

Building, Property

1 memorial
Thomas Smith (Tottenham)

Thomas Smith (Tottenham)

From British History Online we've learnt that lordships are something that could be bought and sold. The Tottenham lordships were tied in with Bruce Castle, until Thomas Smith got involved. Smith l...

Person, Benefactor, Politics & Administration, Property

1 memorial
P&O office 122 Leadenhall Street

P&O office 122 Leadenhall Street

In 1848 P&O moved into their new purpose-built offices at no. 122, designed by Beachcroft. In P&O soon bought numbers 123, 124 and 125 Leadenhall Street and expanded their building, also ad...

Building, Property

2 memorials
Barton House, Stoke Newington

Barton House, Stoke Newington

The house is said (Hackney Gazette) to have been named for Joseph Beck's grandfather. Grace's Guide suggests that Beck and his family moved here between 1881 and 1891.   At the time the house was ...

Building, Property

1 memorial
Captain Cook's house

Captain Cook's house

Note: this is not Cooks' Cottage - that started life in North Yorkshire and in 1933 was moved to Melbourne, Australia, to celebrate the 1934 centenary of that city's foundation. It was replaced wit...

Building, Property, Australia

2 memorials