The original monastic buildings were lost in the Reformation; the spire standing on the site today was most recently part of a 19th-century church that was destroyed in an air raid in the Second World War.

[2] The first mention of the Franciscans or Greyfriars in Coventry is in the Pipe Rolls of 1234, which show Henry III allowing them timber to use for their oratory or church.

From later documents it is evident that Ranulf de Blondeville, Earl of Chester, permitted them to erect their house on his manor of Cheylesmore, on the south-west side of the city.

In August 1289, Roger de Montalt granted the Franciscan friars of Coventry a site for the enlargement of their area.

In 1359, Richard II granted the Grey Friars as much stone from the quarry in the Black Prince's park at Cheylesmore as they needed for their house.