Leicester Austin Friars

Leicester Austin Friars or St. Katherine’s Priory, Leicester is a former Priory of Augustinian Hermit Friars in Leicester, England.

Leicester Austin Priory

Location within Leicestershire
Monastery information
Other names	St Katherine’s Priory
Order	Order of Hermits of Saint Augustine
Established	1254
Disestablished	1535
Dedicated to	St Katherine
Diocese	Lincoln
People
Important associated figures	Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster
Site
Coordinates	52.633362°N 1.144428°W / 52.633362; -1.144428
Visible remains	None

History

Leicester Austin Priory was founded in 1254 and dedicated to St Katherine of Alexandria. It was enlarged in 1304 by Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster.^[1][2]

In 1372 a general chapter of the Order of Austin Hermit Friars was held at the priory. Around the same time (the late 14th-century) the community was home to a Friar Hermit named Thomas Ratcliffe, who was regarded as a renowned preacher.^[2]

The priory was surrendered for dissolution in November 1535. The priory does not appear to have been very large. At dissolution it was home to the Prior and three friars, and owned only the land it stood upon and a few small properties within the town. The annual income of the priory was listed as only £1.^[2]

The priory was unusual in having two cloisters.^[3]

An image of a medieval funeral procession in Leicester involving Friars from four different mendicant orders including the Austin Friars, as well as the Greyfriars, the Blackfriars, some Whitefriars (an order not present in Leicester), and a group of lay mourners. The church depicted is the now demolished St Sepulchre outside the southern wall of old Leicester (now Leicester Royal Infirmary).^[4]

References

1. LEICESTER AUSTIN FRIARY, English Heritage: PastScape
2. Friaries in Leicester, A History of the County of Leicestershire: Volume 2 (1954), pp. 33-35.
3. New understanding of old Leicester University of Leicester
4. Nichols, John, History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester, 1795–1815, Vol I part II, plate XVII, fig. 11 (facing p.272), also page 299 where Nichols quotes Rev Francis Peck’s description of the image MSS Vol V ( Harl. MSS 4938)p.11.|https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p15407coll6/id/3465