Holy Jesus Hospital - Dissolution of The Monasteries (1539)

Dissolution of The Monasteries (1539)

In 1539, the friary was seized by the crown along with five others in the area including the Dominican monastery of Blackfriars. At the time of its capture the friary had seven brethren and three novices including the prior, Andrew Kell. The monks and nuns were pensioned and the friars received gratuities. Some took jobs as chantry priests or accommodation in parish livings. Those nuns who were of good birth returned to their families. The bells, lead plate and vestments were turned over to the crown. Most of the building and lands were sold to the lesser gentry, new nobility, and town merchants or to borough corporations. At the time of the Dissolution there were a prior, ten friars and three novices.

In 1537, Thomas Cromwell was asked if the Austin Friary site could be left intact after the dissolution, to be used as northern headquarters of the King's Council of the North when it was not sitting at York. It was rarely used for this purpose (Elizabeth I decreed that the council spend 20 days a year there). It appears that in 1551 the site was granted to John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland "as parcel of Tynemouth Monastery." In 1553, Richard Benson occurs as keeper of this house for the crown for a fee of 40s per annum. In the map of the city by John Speed in 1610, the site appears as 'Kings Manour'. It was much dilapidated by 1595. During the confused period of the English Civil War, it passed into the hands of the Corporation. The area became known as Kings Manor which was a short lived counterpart to the famous King’s Manor at York. Military drills were performed by the townspeople at an area called the artillery ground. All that remains of the friary is part of the sacristy wall, though a model in the interpretation room gives a possible layout of some of the friary buildings.