Blackfriars, Ladybellegate Street, Gloucester, Gloucestershire
The friary was completed in about 1270 as a home for some forty friars. It was closed in 1539 during the Dissolution of the monasteries. A local alderman called Thomas Bell bought the Gloucester Blackfriars and converted the church into a mansion and the other buildings into a weaving factory. The chancel became the mansion's great hall and floors and partitions were put into the former transepts and nave to form rooms. Since 1960 all the later floors and partitions have been removed to reveal the church and its surviving medieval features. This property is in the care of English Heritage. English Heritage is (2011) undertaking work to bring parts of the building into use as a performing arts centre. Read more.
