Kilcrea Friary - Features

Features

Kilcrea Friary consists of a nave and chancel church with tower, cloister and surrounding east, west and north range of buildings. The nave measures 25.95m in length by 7.20m in width. The friary is carefully laid out on a square and the church is entered through a doorway in its west gable. An arcade separates the nave from the south aisle and transept. A recess for a holy water stoup is found outside the doorway and in the gable over the doorway are the remains of a large, three-light window. The tower contained four storeys which had timber floors supported on stone corbels. Each storey was lit by plain, narrow, flat-headed windows, except for the top storey where there is a single ogee-headed light in each wall. No trace survives of the high altar which would have been sited under the east window, but an arched piscina is found nearby in the south wall. On the north side of the church is the cloister area and domestic buildings, which include the remains of the chapter room, the refectory and dormitories. Adjoining the chancel of the church is the sacristy, above which is the scriptorium. A 15th century manuscript written at Kilcrea is preserved in Rennes, France.