Derby Black Friary

Derby Blackfriars was a Dominican priory founded in the 13th century just outside Derby’s old town walls. The friars wore black mantles, giving the site its name. It stood in the parish of St Werburgh and was dedicated to the Annunciation of Our Lady. The priory expanded to over sixteen acres with donations from Henry III, Queen Eleanor and Edward I. Royal visits and provincial chapters show its importance in the 13th and 14th centuries. The priory hosted meetings of the Dominican Order in 1310, 1346 and 1376. King Edward II stayed nearby in 1323 and later gave money for the friars’ food. The priory’s church was built slowly over many years. In 1344 a violent attack left friars injured and goods stolen. The priory’s barns served as a royal wool store, but a wool collector was later jailed for letting wool rot. John of Gaunt donated timber from three oaks in 1374. By the 16th century the number of friars fell from about thirty to six as dissolution approached. The priory was surrendered in January 1539 and its seal, showing the Annunciation, was kept with the surrender document. Today the site lies beneath modern buildings on Friargate. A house called The Friary now stands where the priory once did. Nearby, King’s Mead Priory housed Benedictine nuns just under a quarter of a mile to the north-west. St James Priory, home to Cluniac monks, stood a similar distance to the south-east. The area remains built over, but the priory’s history is still visible in local records and the old seal’s design.