Grey Friars Priory Founded

1269

A Franciscan friary was established in Chichester in 1269, in the north-eastern quarter of the walled city. The Grey Friars, as the Franciscans were commonly known from the colour of their habits, were one of the mendicant orders that spread rapidly through English towns during the thirteenth century. They lived by begging rather than from landed estates, and their mission was to preach and serve the urban poor. The Chichester friary occupied a substantial site that included a church, cloister, dormitory, and associated buildings. The friars served the community through preaching, education and care for the sick. The friary survived until the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII. It was surrendered in 1538, and most of the buildings were demolished or converted to other uses. The choir of the friary church survived and still stands in Priory Park, making it one of the best-preserved Franciscan buildings in England. It is a simple, elegant structure of flint and stone, now used as a meeting room and occasional exhibition space. Priory Park itself, laid out on the former friary grounds, is the principal public park in Chichester and contains a cricket ground, bowling green, and the remains of the castle motte. The survival of the Grey Friars building within a public park gives Chichester a visible connection to its medieval religious past that many English towns have lost entirely.