NHER 5481 (Monument record) - Site of Carmelite Priory (Whitefriars)

Site of Carmelite Priory (Whitefriars Gateway)
St Mary's Priory was founded circa 1260 and was situated in South Lynn between All Saints Church and the river. There was an 'Anchoretage' which belonged to this convent and was situated near it. In 1538, the prior and 10 brethren signed the surrender of their convent. In 1544 John Eyre purchased it and it was afterwards sold to the Corporation. (S1)
A late 16th century map of Rising Chase (S4) has a little map of Lynn apparently showing the priory chuch still standing with a tower at the west end. (S2) The tower did remain standing, being used as a dovecote in 1588, and collapsing in 1631 after stone had been removed to build almshouses (S3) and (S5). However, a publication by Higgins (S6) states that Valinger removed stone for his almshouses in 1694, the tower became a dovecote in 1612 and fell in 1630. The illustration shows a house covering part of the gatehouse.
The only current remains of the priory are the Whitefriars Gate (Context 1).
Whitefriars Gate at TF61881950 comprises a single brick arch with stone dressings and is preserved on the side of the modern footpath. A 19th century print in the Bolingbroke Collection (S7) shows an open gateway with an ogee cusped niche above, string courses, putlog holes, and the edge of a stone frame. A drawing by Messent in 1933 (S8) after the gate was restored, shows that the edge of this frame has been made into the edge of the gate itself. (S2)
Information from Ordnance Survey Record Card (S1), HER Record Card (S2), HER Recording Form (S3), and Castle Rising Map (S4).
See also a newspaper article (S5), Higgins (S6), a print from the Bolinbroke Collection (S7), and a publication by Messent (S8).
E. Rose (NAU), 1 May 1981. Amended E. Rose (NLA), 13 November 2001. Amended A. Henderson (HES), 25 April 2025.

1900. Stray Find.
During sewerage works in 1900 a bridge was found at around TF 6187 1950 leading to the gate and suggested as being older than the gate in its lowest courses. At the eastern end of Bird Cage Walk opposite the Goat Inn at approximately TF 6199 1948 was a ring-stone or voussoir which helped form the crown of a Gothic arch. A portion of a window jamb of Barnack stone was discovered a few feet beneath the surface. The mouldings of both were Perpendicular and may relate to a lost building which was once part of this priory.
Information from Hillen (S9).
Site boundary extended slightly to north to incorporate these discoveries.
E. Rose (NLA), 28 May 2004, amended A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 10 June 2019.

26 May 1987. Stray Find.
Stray find by I. Carter, found outside 5 Whitefriars' Terrace in soil removed from AWA trench.
One human skull, no dentition, frontal structure closed (fragmentary) ?from monastic graveyard?
Reported by police.
Information from HER Record Card (S2) [1].
E.M. James (KLM), 4 June 1987.

2 October 1991. Site Revisit.
No change to gatehouse, except that a street lamp is leaning against it.
Information from HER Recording Form (S3).
E. Rose (NLA), 4 October 1991.

May 1995. Stray Find.
Excavation of trench 'in exact centre' of Whitefriars' Terrace and centre of road for emergency repairs to burst water main by Anglian Water.
Side of trench collapsed revealing human skeleton at depth of four feet. After vain attempts to contact an archaeologist, skull was removed and pronounced by police pathologist to be 'between 500 and 700 years old'. Bones replaced in trench below repaired main.
Presumably not the skull found in 1987 and replaced, as No. 5 is not in centre of Terrace.
Information from HER Recording Form (S3) [2].
E. Rose (NLA), 31 May 1995.

1996. Restoration.
Whitefriars Gateway underwent restoration in 1996. Specifications and record for restoration in file.
Information from HER Recording Form (S3).
Amended A. Henderson (HES), 25 April 2025.

August 2000. Site visit.
Gateway in excellent condition following 1996 restoration, but already plants have started to grow out of the top again.
The leaning lamp post has been removed.
Information from HER Recording Form (S3).
E. Rose (NLA), 25 August 2000.

May-August 2009. Trial Trenching.
This work saw the excavation of four trenches in what would have been the westernmost part of the priory precinct. The northernmost trench exposed a section of the medieval brick and chalk precinct wall that extended westwards from Whitefriars Gate. Apart from several mortar surfaces next to the wall there was little else exposed that could be firmly associated with the priory. All four trenches exposed similar broadly similar deposit sequences, with alluvial deposits overlain by dumped layers of medieval and post-medieval date. Although a number of pits and walls were identified these were all thought to be associated with post-medieval phases of activity. The absence of medieval remains suggests that the westernmost section of the priory precinct had probably been mostly undeveloped open ground.
See report (S10) and NHER 62634 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 April 2018.

October-November 2010. Excavation and Watching Brief.
Excavation of site on line of new Public Transport Route between Boal Quay and Wisbech Road. Although the area investigated was large (encompassing much of what had been Whitefriars' Car Park) the depth of the excavation was limited to the formation level of the new road. As a result little in the way of medieval remains was exposed, although the excavation was sufficiently deep to again expose a section of the northern precinct wall. This was shown to have been built in two phases, with the later, entirely brick-built section likely to be of the same date as the adjacent gatehouse. At its western end the wall appeared to turn to the south although as only a short stub of this second wall survived it was impossible to tell if it represented part of a building or the start of a western precinct wall. A large amount of medieval building material had been incorporated into later, post-medieval structures, including a substantial north-to-south aligned possible boundary wall that extended at least 55m southwards from the precinct wall.
See unpublished report (S11) and NHER 62634 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 April 2018.

April 2018. HER Enhancement.
The former mapped extent of this record previously indicated that the southern boundary of the priory precinct ran along the line of Whitefriars Road [4]. However, as noted in report (S11), cartographic evidence suggests that the precinct of the priory comprised the block of land now bounded by Carmelite Terrace to the north, The Friars to the west, Friars Street to the east and Gladstone Road to the south. This land passed into the hands of the Town Corporation in the 16th century and survived as a single, separate area of land until the 19th-century, when the northernmost part was developed for housing. The land to the south still belongs to King’s Lynn Borough Council and is occupied by Whitefriars' Primary School.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 April 2018.