ANNOUNCING A NEW BOOK ON STAMFORD’S HISTORY
1228-30
Grey Friars founded
grey friars or white friars?
in search of stamford’s friaries
By Linda Ball
1268
White Friars founded
about the book
This thoroughly researched book tells the story of the friars – the Grey Friars, White Friars, Black Friars and Austin Friars – from their arrival in Stamford, Lincolnshire between the early 1200s and mid-1300s, to the surrender of their houses and sites to the Crown at the Dissolution.
1337
Edward III held a Great Council and Parliament at the White Friars in Stamford to prepare for war with France
the conundrum
The book’s title refers to a conundrum surrounding the locations of the Grey Friars and White Friars who settled on the east side of town. In the 1970s historians found evidence to suggest that at some point after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538 the identities of the two sites had become confused one for the other.
Stamford’s noble 700-year-old gateway, the sole surviving remnant of the era of the friars
Was this the gate to the White Friars where Edward III held a Great Council to prepare for war with France in the spring of 1337?
Or the entrance to the Grey Friars where the first Princess of Wales, Joan ‘the Fair Maid of Kent’ mother of Richard II was buried in the friary church in 1386?
1386
‘Joan the Fair Maid of Kent’ wife of Edward the ‘Black Prince’ and mother of Richard II was buried in the Grey Friars church
take a look inside
1386 ‘Joan the fair maid of Kent’ buried at Grey Friars
1700s pictorial representations of the friary sites
1600s town plans and the friary sites
Remains and archaeology
1536-41
Dissolution of the Monasteries - Henry VIII closed all the abbeys, nunneries and friaries in England and Wales
About the author
Linda Ball FRSA was born and educated in Stamford. Since retiring from an academic career in teaching and research in creative art and design higher education in 2011 she has pursued a lifelong interest in history. This study of the medieval friaries of Stamford is her most recent project.
1541
The Grey Friars was granted to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk
review
'A fascinating dive into the history of the friaries at the eastern end of the town of Stamford, highlighting a history long forgotten but right on our doorstep and entwined with the School, the town and its people.’
Will Phelan - Principal, Stamford Endowed Schools
1542
The White Friars was granted to Richard Cecil of Stamford
Fully referenced and footnoted, with bibliography, appendices and index. 312 pages softback with 130+ colour and black and white maps and illustrations. Crown quarto portrait 189 x 246mm. ISBN 978 1 5272 8592 7. Published by Chalybeate Books 2021.