Derby Blackfriars

Foundation The priory was founded during Alexander de Stavenby's reign as Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield between the years 1224 and 1238. It was constructed to the west of the town of Derby, just outside the town walls, in the parish of St. Werburgh, The prior obtained a writ which named 44 of the alleged perpetrators, who included "two chaplains, and various tradesmen of the town, such as linen-drapers, grocers, skinners, and shoemakers". At the time it was recorded as having an income, after expenses, of £18 16s 2d. Attached to the document of surrender is the old seal of the priori, used from the time of its foundation. In shape a pointed oval or mandorla, it displays a representation of the Annunciation, with the Virgin Mary and the Archangel Gabriel standing facing each other with the word "Domini" (as in Ecce Ancilla Domini"). Below them is displayed a trefoiled arch with the half-length figure of the Prior in prayer.'''' After dissolution The friary and its land were immediately let to John Sharpe for a yearly rent of 54s. The following year he was awarded a 21-year lease with the condition that the building materials of all the superfluous buildings (which were to be demolished) and all of the trees at the friary, were reserved for the crown. On 18 January 1544, the same John Sharpe took Richard Camerdaye (a labourer from Derby) to court, claiming he had broken into the former friary and stolen the marble gravestones and certain lead, iron, glass and timber, all valued as worth £4. ==Remains==

in Friar Gate, Derby; including Pickford's House Museum The priory was located on the street currently known as Friargate: the site was densely built over as the town of Derby grew beyond its medieval footprint. The street contains more buildings from the 1600s than any other street in Derbyshire. At the time of construction, a building, thought to have been part of the original priory, but which had been converted into three dwellings, still existed to the rear of the site of The Friary House, and stones from the original priory building were used in the foundations of the house. These remaining friary buildings were demolished in the early 19th century. To the annoyance of Mrs. Boden, the Whitakers converted the house into the Friary Hotel; it was converted again in 1996, this time into a pub; its current incarnation is as a nightclub. ==Hauntings==

The area formerly occupied by the priory is believed by some to be haunted.The building known as The Friary, built on the site of the priory buildings, is the location of several sightings of monks dressed in black (Dominican Friars wore black), including sightings of a headless monk. The Friary is also a stopping point on several local ghost walks, with the ghosts of monks most frequently reported in its cellars, which are thought to incorporate part of the original priory buildings. ==References==