Place    From 1260  To /11/1538

Austin Friars

Categories: Property, Religion

Augustinian friary just north-east of Bank, probably founded 1260ish, covering about 5.5 acres, it included a church, various other buildings for the accommodation of the friars and visitors, vegetable gardens, etc. Erasmus stayed here in 1513.

Thomas Cromwell developed a very grand house within the friary precincts which, on his downfall in 1540, was acquired by the crown and, 3 years later, sold to the Drapers Company for their Hall.

The friary suffered dissolution in 1538, on Cromwell's orders. The monastic buildings were replaced with a town house which survived until 1844, when it was turned into warehouses. In 1550 the nave of the church began to be used by foreigners, specifically the Dutch, and became the first official nonconformist chapel in England. The rest of the church was used for storage. Much was demolished in 1600 and then in 1862 a fire destroyed the rest. Reconstructed, it was destroyed in WW2 and rebuilt in the 50s.

The order was named for Saint Augustine of Hippo and so not connected to Augustine of Canterbury. From Augustinians in Britain : The Augustinian friars in Britain ceased to exist at the Reformation in the 16th century. After several attempts to re-introduce the Order, a mission, St Monica's, was established in the East End of London, at Hoxton Square, in 1864. From there the Augustinians re-established their presence throughout Britain.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Austin Friars

Commemorated ati

Austin Friar statue

{On the statue base, at the right:} T. Metcalfe 1989

Read More

Austin Friars & the Queens

To commemorate the visit by Their Majesties Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Beat...

Read More

Drapers' Hall

Drapers' Hall On this site, once part of the Augustine Priory, Thomas Cromwel...

Read More

St Monica's church and priory

The board is not visually very interesting so we photo'd the church window in...

Read More

Other Subjects

Portman Estate

Portman Estate

Wikipedia has a very useful map showing "Estate (freehold) ownership of land in Central London as of 2023". The Portman Estate is shown in yellow.

Group, Property

3 memorials
Henerye Gouldingy

Henerye Gouldingy

Married to Agne Bolden in 1574.

Person, Property

1 memorial
Kidderpore Hall

Kidderpore Hall

From Knight Frank: "By 1843 ... Built that year, Kidderpore Hall was the home of the powerful merchant John Teil, an East India trader with vast tanneries in the Kidderpore district of Calcutta. Th...

Building, Education, Property

1 memorial
Woodford Hall

Woodford Hall

Built, or rebuilt, in 1775 by the architect Thomas Leverton (1743 – 1824). William Morris lived here as a child,  1840 - 47, having been born at Elm House. From Theydon: 1869 - 1900 it was the Cat...

Building, Property

1 memorial
Joseph Hill

Joseph Hill

Commissioned the building of the Earl of Essex pub in 1902.

Person, Property

1 memorial