page_title: Whitefriars, Coventry
section_title: Establishment
hierarchical_section_title: Whitefriars, Coventry / History / Establishment
caption_attribution_description: A carved stone heraldic shield painted with the coat of arms of the Ferrers family from Derby. Excavated from Whitefriars and now on display in the History Gallery of Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry.
context_page_description: The buildings known as Whitefriars are the surviving fragments of a Carmelite friary founded in 1342 in Coventry, England. All that remains are the eastern cloister walk, a postern gateway in Much Park Street and the foundations of the friary church. It was initially home to a friary until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. During the 16th century it was owned by John Hales and served as King Henry VIII School, Coventry, before the school moved to St John's Hospital, Coventry. It was home to a workhouse during the 19th century. The buildings are currently used by Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry.
  The cloister walk that remains would have been one of four when the friary was in use and is constructed from red sandstone. The wooden roof of the building is not an original but thought to have been brought from a nearby building during the 16th century.
  Little of the original buildings remain; only one cloister wing and the original gateway still stand. Various institutions in Coventry are named after the friary such as Whitefriars Ale House and Whitefriars Housing Group.
context_section_description: The friary was established on 14 February 1342 with the help of Sir John Poultney, about a century after the Carmelites arrived in England. It was built on land that had previously been fields and orchards. The Carmelites were a mendicant religious order, dependent on charity from those they taught and on the gifts from pilgrims visiting their shrine of Our Lady of the Tower. According to Dugdale, 'This Chapell is in the tower of the Cittye Wall without New Gate, close by the roadway leading towards London. On the outside thereof was a picture of the blessed Virgin, richly painted, and within an image and her altar, whereat most travellers which passed by did offer more or lesse, out of confidence that their journey would be better blest'. In 1344, King Edward III gave land to extend these buildings and a similar grant followed in 1352. Several local benefactors left donations in the form of bequests to the friary: in 1384 Lord Basset of Drayton left the Carmelites £300 to enlarge the church, in 1419 the monastery was considerable enlarged with a gift from William Botener, of Withibroke and in 1506 Thomas Bonde of Coventry left them 20 marks to assist with the rebuilding of the cloisters. The coat of arms of the Ferrers family (Earls of Derby) was found during excavations of the church, suggesting that the family had also made bequests to the order. Carmelite orders were dependent on such donations to build their friaries and the Coventry house was clearly developed through a process of gradual building and enlargement as and when funds became available.
  The church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was one of the longest friary churches in England and was one of the first buildings on the site. The church was, like the rest of the site, built from red sandstone blocks and the interior was painted white with decorative stonework. The floor was covered with locally-made patterned clay tiles. In the choir, the wooden seats and misericords were finely carved and some of these survived but were later removed to the Old Grammar School in Hales Street.
caption: A carved stone heraldic shield painted with the coat of arms of the Ferrers family from Derby, excavated from Whitefriars.HAGAM database ref: AR.1994.84
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