The house of the Grey, or Franciscan, Friars in Bedford

Bedford

Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 was founded either by Mabilea de Plateshull (Lady Mabel de Pattishall) (according to Leland) or John St. John (according to Valor Ecclesiasticus

Valor Ecclesiasticus

The Valor Ecclesiasticus was a survey of the finances of the church in England, Wales and English controlled parts of Ireland made in 1535 on the orders of Henry VIII....

) during the reign of King Edward II

Edward II of England

Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...

, and their church was dedicated on 3 November 1295. The date of the arrival of the Franciscans in the town is not known.

The revenue of the friary was valued at £3 13s. 2d (according to Valor Ecclesiasticus

Valor Ecclesiasticus

The Valor Ecclesiasticus was a survey of the finances of the church in England, Wales and English controlled parts of Ireland made in 1535 on the orders of Henry VIII....

, or £5 per year according to William Cobbet) at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes 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 monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

. The friars formally acknowledged the supremacy of the King on 14 May 1534, and the deed of surrender was dated 3 October 1535, and subsequently, in 1539 the property was granted to John Gostwyke.