Blackfriars, Newcastle

Blackfriars is a restored 13th-century friary in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. It is in the city centre, close to the city's Chinatown. It is Grade I listed.

During the early years of the 13th century, orders of friars began to establish themselves in England. Newcastle came to have five friaries within its walls: Blackfriars (Dominican) established in 1239; Whitefriars (Carmelite) established in 1262; Austinfriars (Augustinian) established in 1290 (now the site of the Holy Jesus Hospital); Greyfriars (Franciscans) established in 1274 and the Trinitarians established in 1360. There was also the nunnery of St Bartholomew’s founded in 1086 near the present Nun Street.

The Dominican friary was founded by a wealthy Newcastle merchant, Sir Peter Scott. Friars differed from monks, in that worship featured less prominently in the daily routine of the friary. They were clerics who initially lived solely by begging, and they were mostly located in urban areas. They were therefore known as mendicant orders. The Dominican order was founded by St Dominic, also known as Dominic of Osma, shortly after 1200.

Dominicans were forbidden to own buildings and land, but such property could be held in trust for them. Such was the case with Blackfriars, which was situated in the north west of Newcastle just inside the city walls. The friary covered seven acres (2.83 hectares), but also had two gardens and four small closes that provided a small income.

During the 14th century, the friary accommodated royalty on more than one occasion. In 1334 Edward III of England and Edward Balliol, the claimant to the Scottish throne, met there.

During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants in 1539. The Church, sacristy, eastern half of the chapter house and cloister were all demolished. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was sold to the mayor and burgesses of Newcastle, who then leased it to nine of the town’s craft guilds, to be used as their headquarters in 1552. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day.

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Wikipedia