By the spring of 1225 they also had houses in London and Oxford (initially just borrowed rooms befitting an order vowed to poverty and simplicity).

Expansion to Cambridge, Northampton and Norwich followed, continuing the pattern of modest premises in the midst of populous towns.

[9] The process by which the Leicester friars acquired their large plot of ground within the town is unclear, but is thought to be a mid-13th century foundation.

De Montfort University's Digital Building Heritage Project points out it was "most commonly referred to simply as Greyfriars Church, Leicester".

[12] However, the specific site of the church was only confirmed by the archaeological dig of 2012, which also gave some clues to the layout of the associated monastic buildings.

[10] Among the donations to the friary was the gift of oak trees by King Henry III (1216–1272): "to make stalls and wainscote their chapel".

[3] A provincial chapter of the English Franciscans was held at Leicester the same year, in which it was explicitly forbidden for any member of the Order to speak against the King.

[16] The main business of the sessions was the suppression of Lollardy, the punishment for which was to be confiscation of property, or even burning at the stake, giving rise to the name.

[3] In 1485, following his death in battle against Henry Tudor at Bosworth Field, Richard III's body was thrown across a horse and brought to Leicester where it was put on display for several days, after which it was buried in the Greyfriars Church.

[18] An epitaph to Richard, which may be contemporary but appears never to have been attached to the tomb, is known from a handwritten version by Thomas Hawley, who died in 1557.

[20] An account arose that when the tomb was destroyed, Richard's bones were thrown into the River Soar by the nearby Bow Bridge.

[19] By the end of the 20th century, aided by a plaque near the Bow Bridge, the notion was sufficiently entrenched as to be reported as fact in authoritative history books.

[note 1] Herrick built a mansion fronting onto Friar Lane,[19] with extensive gardens over the east end of the Friary grounds.

These gardens were visited in 1611 by Christopher Wren Sr. (1589–1658), who recorded being shown a handsome stone pillar with an inscription, "Here lies the body of Richard III, some time King of England".

[26] Georgian buildings were built along New Street and Friar Lane, many of which date to the mid and late 18th Century and remain standing.

Pares enlarged the mansion and built a banking house at the extreme east end of the site, on the corner of St Martin's and Hotel Street.

The mansion house was by now known as "The Grey Friars", and was subdivided so that by 1863, one part was occupied by Burnaby's widow,[29] and the other by a Mrs Parsons.

In 1920, Alderman Newton's moved to the former Wyggeston School buildings at the other end of Peacock Lane (now the St Martin's cathedral centre).

[33] In 1878 the Conway Buildings, 7 Grey Friars, were built to be the offices of W W Clarkson & Co. brick and tile merchants, and designed by Stockdale Harrison in late 19th Century Gothic style.

[4] As well as discovering the remains of Richard III, the Archaeological dig of August 2012 tentatively identified various elements of the medieval friary.

The modern wall dividing the social services car park and school playground was demolished, allowing a wide area excavation, contrasting with the narrow trenches of 2012.

[46] A temporary exhibition in the Leicester Guildhall showed a range of the site artefacts until the permanent museum opened in July 2014.

[49] In August 2013 a judge granted permission for a judicial review but a ruling in May 2014 decreed that there are "no public law grounds for the Court interfering with the decisions in question".

[50][51] In the light of this judgement, plans were announced for a re-interment in Leicester Cathedral in the spring of 2015,[51] and which accordingly took place on 26 March in the presence of the Countess of Wessex, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and the Archbishop of Canterbury.