Greyfriars, Dunwich was a Franciscan friary in Dunwich in the English county of Suffolk. The friary was founded before 1277 by Richard FitzJohn and his wife Alice and dissolved in 1538.[1] The original site, which had 20 friars in 1277 when it first appears in records, was threatened by coastal erosion and the friary was moved inland in 1289.[1]
Many of the buildings are believed to have been destroyed on dissolution, with the remains used as a house, a town hall and a jail at various times. Modern remains consist of a precinct wall, two gatehouses and some two-storey walls believed to be the remains of a cloister building, possibly a refectory or infirmary building.[1][2]
Dunwich Greyfriars gateway
The site was partly excavated in the 1930s and 1990s, with geophysical surveys being carried out on the site.[2] The site was surveyed in 2011 as part of a dig by archaeological television programme Time Team. A geophysical survey using ground-penetrating radar confirmed a range of wall features and other anomalies in the precinct[3] and trenches uncovered carved medieval stonework and medieval window glass fragments.[2][4] Geophysical surveys suggest that the friary church may have been up to 60 metres in length.[2]
Some restoration work was carried out in 2008, including the strengthening of some buildings and repair of collapsed section of the precinct wall.[5] The site was then placed on the Heritage at Risk Register,[6] leading to a £250,000 restoration project in 2012 by English Heritage and Suffolk County Council.[7][8] The management of the site was taken over by a local voluntary group, the Dunwich Greyfriars Trust, in October 2013.[8][9] The transfer occurred after budget cuts by the county council meant that the running costs would no longer be met by the council.[7][8][10] The remains are classified as a Grade II* listed building and most of the site as a Scheduled Monument.[11][12]
