Aberdeen City HER - NJ90NW0041 - DOMINICAN FRIARY

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Main Details

Primary ReferenceNJ90NW0041
NameDOMINICAN FRIARY
NRHE Card No.NJ90NW27
NRHE Numlink 20147
HES SM No. NULL
HES LB No. NULL
Site Form Documentary Record Only
Site Condition Destroyed
Details Site of a Dominican (Black Friars) friary founded between 1230 and 1249 by Alexander II. He was said to have bestowed on the friary his palace and garden situated between Schoolhill, Blackfriars Street, Woolmanhill, St Andrews Street and Harriet Street. From the 14th century the Friary features regularly in documentary sources. The Blackfriars convent and grounds occupied a semi-rural location beyond the Upperkirkgate which marked the northwestern entry to the Burgh of Aberdeen. By 1503 the complex housed a prior and 13 friars. The boundary wall was still extant in 1661 (shown on Parson Gordon's map), although the monastery and its church (dedicated to St John the Baptist) had been destroyed by reformers in 1560. Excavations in 1833 uncovered a south-facing building of the monastery, and a stone-built grave containing three bodies. The site is now occupied by Robert Gordon's College (NJ90NW0375). The finds made during building operations between 1833 and 1923 appear to indicate that the main complex and church were situated at the present college gymnasium. See NJ90NW3080 for coffins found 1923, NJ90NW1189 for wall foundations found 2009; NJ90NW1255 for burials found in 2015, and NJ90NW0568 for burials found during works to the Art Gallery in 2016.
Last Update21/09/2023
Updated Bycpalmer
CompilerACU
Date of Compilation13/09/2017

Google Map for NJ90NW0041

National Grid Reference: NJ 9389 0640



Event Details


Excavations and Surveys


Artefact and Ecofact

Ecofact

Samples
Palynology
Ecofact Notes

Monument Types

Monument Type 1Monument Type 2Monument Type 3OrderProbability
FRIARIES DOMINICANA100
FRIARIES SITE OFB100
BURIALS  C100
GRAVESSTONE-BULIT B100