13thcentury
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The Priory is built and the Friars come to Dunstable
In 1201, Richard de Morins became the new Prior of Dunstable. In around 1210 (some sources, notably the Anglican Church, put it as early as 1122), de Morins persuaded the church at Cropredy in Oxfordshire to part with the bones of St. Fremund, a Saxon saint. De Morins brought the remains to Dunstable and put them into a specially constructed shrine at the new Priory Church.
Pilgrims came from far and wide to visit the shrine at Dunstable. As word spread that miracles were occurring at the shrine, local innkeepers did very well indeed! The shrine was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, but the Church of St. Fremund the Martyr in Westfield Road was built and dedicated to his memory in the late 1960s.
In 1213, the Priory Church was completed, with the Bishop of Lincoln performing a solemn dedication ceremony. Nine years later, however, a great storm blew down one of the great towers, destroying the north west corner of the buildings. Even today, you can see two different doors on the west front of the church as evidence of the great storm.
In 1259, Dominican Friars settled in Dunstable on the area of land which is now known as Friary Field. The prospect of religious opposition worried the Prior immensely. A canon from the Priory, along with his townsmen, stormed the Friary, throwing one friar into Friar's Pond and two others in prison.
To all intents and purposes, Dunstable boomed in the 13th century. The Augustinian Priory became highly respected and the Prior was often called upon by the Pope, King, and Archbishop of Canterbury to resolve disputes. By the end of the 13th century, Dunstable was one of the largest retail centres in England.
King John and the Magna Carta
One of the most well-known events in British history is King John's refusal to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. The Sheriff of Bedfordshire, William de Beauchamp, organised the struggle to persuade King John to sign the charter. King John persistently refused, so de Beauchamp raised an army of Bedfordshire landowners against him. John responded in kind by sending, through Falkes de Breauté, his soldiers to attack Bedford Castle. The castle fell on 2nd December.
King John died suddenly under mysterious circumstances on 18/19th October 1216 at Newark Castle and his nine-year-old son Henry is crowned King Henry III.
Falkes de Breauté, who now had control of Bedford Castle, refused to relinquish his control of it. To add insult to injury, Falkes built a second castle at Luton in 1220. In 1223, King Henry instructed Falkes to demolish Luton Castle and issued him with a list of charges relating to it.
Court opened at Dunstable Priory on 10th June 1224. Not only did Falkes ignore the list of charges and fail to appear, but a message was received that Falkes had sent his brother William and an army of soldiers to capture the judges at Dunstable. The Court quickly disbanded, but Judge Henry de Braybrook was captured and thrown into the dungeon at Bedford Castle.
As a result, the men from Dunstable stormed Bedford Castle on Wednesday 14th August, with several of the men dying in the resulting battle. The prisoners, however, were released and King Henry's standard was hoisted to the top of the tower. Falkes de Breauté was sent into exile and the King's Court sat at Dunstable for many centuries thereafter.
Miscellany
Many Tournaments were held at Dunstable during the 13th and 14th centuries. The first was recorded in 1232 and is thought to have been held on the area of land now occupied by Jeansway. The Tournament would have taken place on the flat, low-lying land whilst spectators would have sat on the hill to watch.
In 1221, the earliest surviving bylaws in England were drawn up in Dunstable, stating that market stalls in the town must be taken down at sundown and that roads were to be kept clean of blood, offal and manure.
In 1272, Edward I was crowned King of England. In 1290, his queen consort, Eleanor, died in Harby, Nottinghamshire. As Eleanor was to be buried in Westminster Abbey, her body was carried in procession there from Nottingham. On the night of Monday 11th December, Eleanor's body came to rest in Dunstable. In 1311, Dunstable was awarded one of twelve Eleanor crosses, which was erected in the centre of the crossroads. This was later demolished and a replacement statue was placed in the centre of the Eleanor's Cross shopping precinct in High Street North.
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