Nottingham Franciscan Friary

A Franciscan friary once stood in Nottingham’s Broadmarsh area, founded between 1224 and 1230. King Henry III supported its early buildings with timber from Sherwood Forest, donating oaks for the church, infirmary and dormitory. The stone church took decades to complete, finally consecrated in 1303 with aisles added by 1310. The friary dissolved in 1539 under Henry VIII’s orders and was surrendered by Warden Thomas Basford and seven friars. The site later passed to Thomas Heneage in 1548 before the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre covered it in the 1970s. Excavations in 1937 revealed part of the friary’s southern boundary wall, though this was lost to later development. A local road once named Grey Friars Gate recalled the friary, but the name disappeared as the shopping centre expanded. The only surviving trace is a cast of the friary’s 15th-century seal, now held in the British Museum. All other structures were cleared away long ago, leaving no visible remains on the site today. Visitors to Broadmarsh Shopping Centre will find no hint of the friary beneath the modern shops and walkways. The area’s medieval past survives only in scattered records and a single museum artefact. The contrast between the 13th-century friary and the 20th-century retail centre highlights how much of Nottingham’s history has been reshaped over time.