The Impact on The Halls
- Background Information
- The Medieval Halls
- The Halls and the Reformation
- The Halls c.1600-1900
- The Halls Today
The Impact of Reformation on The Halls
In this section you will discover what impact the Reformation had on The Halls, who purchased the site, what major changes there were and learn about two famous people at The Halls during this period.
What impact did it have?
- In their last desperate years the friars had to sell off their own possessions in order to live. The great sixth bell, which had previously hung in the tower, was sold to the church of St Andrew across the road for £16, and part of the churchyard was leased out in 1537 to William Alman, a haberdasher, who was licenced to build a house there provided he threw ‘nothing filthy’ from his windows.
- By October 1538, when the black friars surrendered to the Crown, there was very little of value left. Indeed, by 29 November, 1538, the King’s Commissioner was:
| [Letter and Papers, Henry VIII, xiii, pt ii, no 282] |
Afraid to take charge of the Blackfriars at Norwich for fear that the lead on the aisles and the glass in the windows [would be stolen]. |
- So great had been the previous depredations that the total gain by the Crown from the sale of furnishings from all four Norwich friaries was only 48 shillings. Although the profit from the sale of lead was considerable. Click here to read more.
- However, The Halls was about to be saved from the fate of so many monasteries that were pulled down for the sake of their materials.