Austin Friars, London was an Augustinian friary in the City of London from its foundation, probably in the 1260s, until its dissolution in November 1538. It covered an area of about 5.5 acres a short distance to the north-east of the modern Bank of England and had a resident population of about 60 friars. A church stood at the centre of the friary precinct, with a complex of buildings behind it providing accommodation, refreshment and study space for the friars and visiting students. A large part of the friary precinct was occupied by gardens that provided vegetables, fruit and medicinal herbs.
Administration entrance to Drapers' Hall, pictured in 2012. The site of Thomas Cromwell's House
The Dutch Church (1820) by Edward Wedlake Brayley from A Topographical and Historical Description of London and Middlesex
The Dutch Church – the last remaining fragment of Austin Friars
Dissolution of the monasteries
The dissolution of the monasteries, occasionally referred to as the suppression of the monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541, by which Henry VIII disbanded Catholic monasteries, priories, convents, and friaries in England, Wales, and Ireland; expropriated their income; disposed of their assets; and provided for their former personnel and functions.
King Henry VIII c. 1537 by Hans Holbein the Younger. Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid.
Desiderius Erasmus by Holbein; Renaissance humanist and influential critic of religious orders. Louvre, Paris.
Thomas Cromwell by Hans Holbein: Chief Minister for Henry VIII and Vicegerent in Spirituals; created the administrative machinery for the dissolution
Stogursey Priory in Somerset. An alien priory dissolved in 1414 and granted to Eton College
