The order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Knight, 1944, 236), originated as groups of Christian hermits on Mount Carmel near to the present day Israeli city of Haifa (Klein & Roe, 1987, 4).
'They were recalled to Europe in the mid thirteenth century and set up their early houses in remote locations, well away from urban centres. After receiving a revised rule from Pope Innocent IV in 1247, closely modelled on that of the Dominican friars, they became a mendicant order and moved into towns and cities where they built their churches and preached, land being provided by benefactors. From their establishment in England in 1242, the Carmelites expanded rapidly during the latter half of the thirteenth century to found some twenty eight houses in many of the principal towns and cities, including London, York, Norwich and Oxford, which were the mother houses of each of four distinctions or administrative areas. Five more were founded in the early fourteenth century' (Klein & Roe, 1987, 4).
The Carmelite Friars of York had been established in Horsefair, off Gillygate, from c.1250, but a grant of 1295 allowed them to move within the City Walls. William de Vescy granted the Carmelites a messuages in Stonebow Lane (the predecessor to the modern Stonebow) with pertinentiis (land and associated buildings). The property extended from 'the aforesaid street towards the water of the Foss to the south, and from the street called Mersk to Fossgate in the west'.
A document of 1299/1300 described the boundary of St Saviour's cemetery as running along 'Staynbouwe Lane' for 316 feet, noted to correspond to the wall of Black Horse Passage in the western part of the precinct (Hopkinson & Ferguson, 1998, 4).
In 1300 the Friary Church was under construction, demonstrated by a gift from Edward I of eight oaks for the building (Cal. Pat. Rolls. 28, Edw. I, m.6). In 1304 the associated cemetery was consecrated (Reg. Corbridge (Surt Soc) I, 11). During the following century the land owned by the Carmelites continued to encroach upon the surrounding area.
By 1400 the Friary land is believed to have extended from Hungate in the east to Fossgate in the west, and from Stonebow Lane in the north to the Foss (Hunter-Mann, 1991, 3). Little is known of the layout of the Friary. Whilst excavating the Carmelite Friary at Corve Street in Ludlow, Klein and Roe (1987, 59) point out that it was normal for many orders to have a set plan for the layout of buildings in the monastery. However, as the Carmelites built within towns and cities they were often forced to adapt the layout of their houses to suit the site, the basic components would always be present such as the church, refectory, dormitories and so on, but 'peripheral buildings or those used also for the public were often extended, altered or used for different purposes as the needs of the town differed' (Klein & Roe, 1987, 59).
The church and cemetery of the Carmelite friary at York are known to have been in the parish of St Saviour, therefore in the northern part of the precinct (Reg Corbridge (Surt Soc) I, 60-2). Documents indicate that the property would have been demarcated by a wall, with a gate on Fossgate, close to the junction with Pavement. In 1378 John de Housam, a potter, was prosecuted for 'breaking into the priors close...and digging into his soil...and taking earth to the value of ten marks'. In 1572/3 it was ordered that no-one 'shall lay dung in Hungate against the Freer wall (YCHB, XXV, 80; Raine, 1955, 63). A medieval wall recorded in archaeological investigations in the area of Black Horse Passage is interpreted as part of the wall of the Carmelite Friary (Hopkinson & Ferguson, 1998, 8). The Ordnance Survey map of 1852 labels sections of 'Old Wall' in Black Horse Passage and Stonebow Buildings (Lane), and 'Remains of the Priory Wall' in the northern part of Hungate.
Raine (1955, 63) describes a section of wall that could be seen on the south-east side of Stonebow Lane as 'the north-west angle of this Friary Wall', presumably destroyed during the construction of the Stonebow in 1955. A newspaper article of 1857 reports the finding of large stones that may have formed part of the boundary wall of the Friary (in Raine, 1955, 63). The gates of the Friary, then, would have been on Fossgate, below Stonebow Lane. Within these gates records describe a chapel 'in which was placed a glorious image of the Virgin Mary' (Raine, 1955, 64). This chapel is mentioned in documents of 1431 and 1441 (Raine, 1955, 64).
There have been few archaeological finds associated with the Friary but one such is described in the Royal Commission for Historic Monuments for York: 'one lid, known to belong to a child's coffin, now in the Yorkshire Museum, was found in Fossgate in 1887 and is only 1ft 10 1/4 inch long. It bears a foliated cross on a calvary base with a brooch buckle on the shaft. The coffin may have been buried originally in the Carmelite Friary Church on the east side of Fossgate' (RCHM, 1981, xlvii).
On the third of October 1314, Edward II granted permission for the Carmelites to construct a quay 'in their own soil within the dwelling place (mansum) upon the bank of the...Foss...and further that they may have one boat...to carry to their said dwelling place stone, brushwood and other necessaries of theirs' (Cal. Pat. Rolls, Edw. III, 1313-17, 185). Investigations in Carmelite Street uncovered a timber structure that was interpreted as a jetty, and tentatively linked to this documented fourteenth century activity (Hunter-Mann, 1991, 15). A new choir was built in the fifteenth century, evidenced by John Stokwyth's will, which left 20s for building work on the new choir in 1403, and in 1406, Walter Skirlaw left £10 to the building of the church. In 1490, Thomas Pereson, sub-Dean of York, gave money for the making of the clock for the church (Raine, 1955, 64).
The Friary itself was of national importance, being the head of one of the four distinctions into which the English Carmelite Friars were divided. Several provincial friars were associated with York, and at least two buried at the site. Bequests were plentiful. In 1315-16, for example, grants were bestowed by Thomas le Aguiler and Cicely his wife in the form of houses in Fossgate and land and appurtenances were given by Abel de Richale (Riccall) of York (Knight, 1944, 215). Other benefactors included the notable Percy family of Northumberland, regarded as the second founders of the Friary. The palace of the Percy family is marked on the Ordnance Survey map of 1852 as being located on the opposite side of the River Foss. Knight notes that 'when it [the Friary] was in its prime it had considerable influence on the public life of the city but at the dissolution its inmates only consisted of the Prior, nine Friars and three novices' (Knight, 1954, 102).
see also Copsey 1995 - http://www.carmelite.org/chronology/york.htm