A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



cote, garden, orchard called ' Paradyse,' and 

 cemetery, as well as arable, pasture, and wood- 

 lands.^ 



On the accession of Queen Mary there was 

 a brief revival of the order, by patent of 2 April, 

 1557. This revival was of special interest in 

 Northamptonshire, for Sir Thomas Tresham, of 



Rushton, was appointed grand prior of St. John 

 Angliae. 



There were ' cameras ' belonging to the 

 order at Harrington, Blakesley, and Guils- 

 borough. Brother Nicholas occurring as 'the 

 master of the hospital ' at the last-named place 

 in 1285.^ 



FRIARIES 



19 THE BLACK FRIARS OF NORTH- 

 AMPTON 



The Dominican or Black Friars, otherwise 

 called the Friars Preachers, established them- 

 selves at Northampton, with the hearty sanction 

 of Bishop Hugh Wells, about 1230. They 

 obtained a site near the centre of the town, with 

 a frontage to the horse market." In Henry III., 

 and afterwards in Edward I., the friars found 

 liberal patrons. 



The first notice of their building occurs 1233, 

 when the king granted the friars twenty oaks 

 out of the royal forests of Northamptonshire.^ 

 Two years later the king gave them fifteen oaks 

 from the forest of Salcey for the timber of their 

 church ; in March, 1236, timber from the same 

 woods to make sixty rafters for their fratery ; in 

 August of the same year, ten logs {fusta) from 

 Kenilworth, for roofing shingles ; and in Septem- 

 ber, 1240, twelve more oaks from Salcey for 

 general building purposes.* In May, 124 1, the 

 sheriff was directed to fell and carry to the 

 Friars Preachers at Northampton, at the royal 

 cost, fifteen oaks from Salcey, with all their 

 branches.^ These gifts of timber continued for 

 some time ; in 1244, twenty oaks for the fabric 

 of the church from Salcey, four from Whittlewood, 

 and ten ready cut into shingles were bestowed by 

 the keepers of the bishopric of Chichester, the 

 see being vacant ; in 1245, twenty oaks from 

 Salcey, or Silverstone, for roofing the church and 

 the cloister; and in 1246, a hundred shillings 

 towards buying shingles to roof the church.^ 



In 1246 the Knights Templars gave the friars 

 ten oaks in their wood of Balsall, and the sheriff 

 of Warwickshire received the royal command to 

 carry them to Northampton. 



The friars added to their grounds in 1247, 

 and the king contributed forty marks, through 

 the sheriff, ' ad septa ecclesie sue amplianda.' In 



1 Pat. 3; Hen. VIII. pt. 16. 



2 Leland, I tin. (Hearne ed.), i. 10. 



3 Close, 17 Hen. III. m. 2. 



* Ibid. 19 Hen. III. pt. i, m. 6 ; 20 Hen. III. 

 m. 14, 5 ; 24 Hen. III. m. 6. 



5 Ibid. 25 Hen. III. m. 9. 



6 Liberate and Close Rolls. See article on this 

 house. Reliquary, vol. xxi. 25-32, by the late Father 

 Palmer, to which we are much indebted. Various 

 statements in this account, to which references are 

 not appended, are taken from this trustworthy source. 



1249 the addition to the church was ready for 

 roofing, and the king gave thirty oaks for shingles 

 for that purpose. Six good oaks from Salcey 

 forest were given in 1258, towards the erection 

 of study-rooms, and this was followed by further 

 gifts of timber in 1261, 1265, and 1270. On 

 30 May, 1266, the friars received letters of safe 

 conduct for their men and servants traversing the 

 kingdom with wains for timber and other building 

 materials.^ 



Edward I. continued the liberal timber bene- 

 factions of his father. His first gift was in 1277, 

 and it was followed by others in 1278, 1279, 

 1286, and 1301, from the woods of Sake)', 

 Whittlewood, Geddington, and Hanley. Six of 

 the oaks given in 1278 were for the fabric of the 

 church, and on 9 May, 1286, as much timber as 

 was necessary was found, ' ad novem copulas quas 

 Rex eis concessit in auxilium chori ecclesie sue 

 ibidem perficiendi.'^ 



These interesting entries show that the building 

 of this friary and its gradual development ex- 

 tended over sixty-seven years, namely from 1233 

 to 1 30 1. Sufficient accommodation was, how- 

 ever, provided by 1239 for holding the provincial 

 chapter of the Dominicans at Northampton. 



At the special inquisition of 1274, dealing 

 with encroachments, the jury found that these 

 friars had enclosed for their use a common way 

 6 feet broad, stretching from their new church- 

 yard to St. Martin Street, to the detriment of the 

 commonalty of the town to the amount of half a 

 mark.io 



A spring of flowing water, termed ' Floxe- 

 well,' at Kingsthorpe, was granted to the friars 

 by Queen Eleanor in 1279 ; the water was 

 conveyed to their buildings by an underground 

 conduit.*' 



In 1 30 1 their grounds were enlarged by two 

 plots of land, one 60 feet by 40 feet, and the 

 other 50 feet by 49 feet ; the mortmain licence 

 for the former was granted on condition of 

 two hundred masses being celebrated for the 

 king and queen and their children.'^ Further 

 licences for enlarging their grounds followed in 

 1314 and 1319. 



7 Assize R. 623, m. 1 2d. » Pat. Hen. III. m. I J. 

 9 Close, 14 Edw. I. m. 5. 



10 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii. 3. 



11 Pat. 7 Edw. I. m. II. 



'^ Inq. p. m. 29 Edw. I. No. 86. 



144 



