Denbigh Friary
Denbigh Friary ( Welsh Brodordy Dinbych ) is a former Carmelite monastery in the Welsh city of Denbigh . The monastery, which was probably founded in the late 13th century, fell victim to the dissolution of the British monasteries initiated by King Henry VIII in 1537 . Today only the ruinous monastery church and the dormitory remain, which after major renovations serve as a residential building.
history
Denbigh Friary was founded in the late 13th century under the patronage of Sir John Salusbury. Throughout his existence, the monastery was in close connection to the diocese of St Asaph , whose seat km in about 8 remote St Asaph was. For example, the bishops Henry Standish (1518–35) and Robert Purefoy (1536–54) were Carmelites themselves and lived in the monastic Bishop's Chamber while they were in office . The Salusbury family also continued to have close ties to Denbigh Friary: several of its members, including the monastery founder, were buried in the monastery church. The graves are still occupied in the middle of the 17th century.
At the time of its dissolution in 1537, four brothers were still living in the monastery. The buildings were taken over by the diocese and continued to be used as residential and farm buildings.
An engraving from 1742 shows the church in good condition almost 200 years after it was deedicated. It was used as a wool store and as a malt house until the 19th century , until a fire in 1898 completely destroyed the roof and the west wall.
In 1950 the monastery church was entered on the British list of monuments (Grade II *), followed by the Dormitory (Grade II) in 1981. Today the buildings are maintained by the Cadw monument authority and are freely accessible via a private road.
description
The monastery church, like the rest of the complex, made of coarse limestone and sandstone , has largely been preserved except for the roof and west wall. It still measures approx. 19 × 9 m. The ogival large east window in the Perpendicular style is to protect the tracery been walled up early. A wooden rood screen separated the choir , which was reserved for the friars in the church service, from the nave , which was available to lay people . In the southern choir wall three heavily weathered sediles and the piscina have been preserved. The wooden bell rider was no longer available by the middle of the 18th century at the latest.
To the south, the cloister was connected to the church , on the east side of which there were the Bishop's Chamber and Chapter House and which was closed to the south by a wing of a dormitory and probably a refectory . To the west was a large hall with a pantry, which may have served as a guest house or refectory. A brewery is also occupied.
Of the dormitory, which was probably built in the early 16th century under Bishop Standish, only a few medieval structures have been preserved.
literature
- LAS Butler: Denbigh Castle, Denbigh Town Walls, Lord Leicester's Church, St Hilary's Chapel, Denbigh Friary. Cadw, Cardiff 1990, revised edition 2007, ISBN 978-1-85760-238-8 , pp. 46-48.
Web links
- Denbigh Friary on Cadw's website
- Denbigh Friary in the database of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Denbigh Friary, Denbigh . British Listed Buildings. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
- ↑ Abbey Cottage, Denbigh . British Listed Buildings. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
Coordinates: 53 ° 11 ′ 15.7 " N , 3 ° 24 ′ 33.1" W.