The Middleton Accounts of 1525: #26

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby for 1525 was dated as the 22nd October. It was described as a payment to the warden of Grey Friars in Lichfield on the commandment of Sir Henry Willoughby when Sir Henry had gone to pray in the town. The amount was 10 shillings and 8 pence, which was the equivalent of about £235.35 today.

Grey Friars was the common name, as a result of the colour of the habit of the friars, for the Franciscan Friary in Lichfield. The Franciscan Friary was founded in 1237 and the friars established a large estate that included a large church, cloister, dormitory lodge, refectory building and many other dwellings. In the Dissolution of the Monasteries, King Henry VIII suppressed the Friary in 1538 and subsequently most of the buildings were demolished. The site of the Friary’s location is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument and the only part of the Friary that has survived is located at the southwest end of where Lichfield Library used to be.

Artistic drawing of Lichfield Friary, Lichfield District Council, CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

This was not the only payment to Grey Friars in the Middleton accounts. On 23rd April 1524, Sir Henry paid the warden of Grey Friars for his half-year fee. The amount is thought to have been 8 shillings and 8 pence (about £225.34 today), but a notation in the Middleton Manuscripts states that the amount was subsequently erased. There was one other entry in the accounts that was a payment to Grey Friars. It was dated 6th April 1523 and the amount was 6 shillings and 8 pence (about £173.34 today).

Further Reading: W. H. Stevenson, Report on the Manuscripts of Lord Middleton, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1911. pp.353, 365, 378.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

Please consider supporting Middleton Hall Trust by sending us a donation.