Summary

Hulne Priory, 250m south of The Bothy.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 11 May 2016. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument includes the remains of a Carmelite Friary of medieval date, situated close to the River Aln. The remains of the friary include the ruins of the church and claustral buildings and the standing buildings of the summerhouse and tower, curtain wall and attached structures.
Hulne Priory was one of the first Carmelite houses to be established in England. Founded in approximately 1240, it was built for 24 friars. The chief endowment for the friary came from John de Vescy. During the 15th century a curtain wall with gateways and other structures was built. After dissolution in 1539 the church was destroyed. During the 16th century parts of the claustral buildings were converted into a house and in 1488 a tower was built by Sir Henry Percy. Between 1779-89 the interior of the tower was remodelled and a summerhouse was built by Robert Adam and Lancelot Brown for the 1st Duke of Northumberland. The monument is within the Alnwick Castle Grade I Registered Park and Garden.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

A friary is an institution housing a community of friars. The friars were a novel religious movement which began in Italy in the late 12th century and which advocated a "mendicant" life- style. Unlike the older monastic orders, who were dedicated to a continuous round of prayer within a single monastery, the friars main concerns were preaching, evangelism and learning as they moved from friary to friary. Friaries were established in England from the early 13th century onwards, the first houses being founded in Canterbury, London and Oxford during 1224. By the time of the dissolution of the religious orders in the 1530s approximately 189 friaries had been founded for a number of different groups of friars, each with their individual missions. Amongst the most important groups were the Carmelites (the Whitefriar) who founded 41 houses. The sites chosen by or for friaries were usually within towns, often in the less valuable, marginal areas. Here the friars laid out groups of buildings with many components found on older monastic sites, though the restricted sites sometimes necessitated unconventional building plans. The buildings were centred on a church and a cloister and usually contained a refectory (dining hall), a chapter house and an infirmary (for the care of the sick). The buildings were set within a precinct defined by other properties or by its own purpose built wall, but the public were not totally excluded. The naves of the friary churches, in particular, were designed to accommodate large public gatherings assembled to hear the friars preach. Friaries made a great contribution to later medieval life, in the towns particularly, and their remains add greatly to our understanding of the close inter-relationship between social and religious aspects of life in the high Middle Ages. All examples which exhibit significant surviving archaeological remains are worthy of protection.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
PastScape Monument No:- 6907

Source: Historic England