Volunteers working on clearing weeds in the River Kennet in the attractive Wiltshire town of Marlborough recently got a big surprise. A large lump of masonry was shifted from its position on the river-bed and they found themselves gazing into the weed-draped, grinning countenance of a stylised medieval lion!
The lion is believed to have come from the nearby House of the White Friars (Carmelites), who arrived in Wiltshire in the 14th century. The House was poor and rather small, and in 1447 Henry VI gave the friars boughs and shrubs from the nearby forest of Savernake in order to ‘relieve their poverty.’ This grant was a continuation of the grant given in perpetuity by Edward, the late Duke of York.
The House was still destitute at the time of the Reformation. It was noted at the time that there was ‘no lead and little steeple.’
The lion’s head is believed, by its unusual shape, to have been a corbel on the inside of the friary church, adjoining two walls.
It is the last remaining trace of this Carmelite Priory, other than possibly some reused stone in the nearby residential building that bears the Priory name.
The corbel will soon be on display in nearby Marlborough House.
The New Murrey and Blue blog 
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