Chelmsford Friary Explained

Chelmsford Friary, also Chelmsford Priory and Chelmsford Blackfriars, was a Dominican friary in Moulsham in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Its foundation date is unknown but lay between 1234 and 1277,^[1] when it received alms from Edward I.^[2] It was dissolved in 1538 and granted to Thomas Mildmay.^[3] The buildings were mostly demolished then, and the remaining couple in the 18th century, and no visible remains now survive, although the site has been excavated.^[4]

Notes and References

1. https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=378319&sort=2&type=&rational=a&class1=11&period=None&county=None&district=None&parish=None&place=Chelmsford&recordsperpage=10&source=text&rtype=&rnumber=&resourceID=19191 Heritage Gateway: Historic England Research Records - Chelmsford Blackfriars
2. https://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/leisure-theatres-and-museums/blue-plaques-information-boards-and-public-art/historical-information-boards-in-chelmsford/the-dominican-friary/ Chelmsford City Council: The Dominican Priory
3. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol2/pp179-180 British History Online - Victoria County Histories - "Friaries: Black friars of Chelmsford", in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 2, ed. William Page and J Horace Round (London, 1907), pp. 179–180.
4. https://historicengland.org.uk/research/results/reports/1890 Historic England: Chelmsford Dominican Priory. Human Bone Report. Justine Bayley, 11 March 1975