In 1544 the tenants seem to have opened negotiations for the purchase of the property. In the official ‘particulars’ sent up to the royal commissioners we read:
‘These houses of ffryers ar wythin the towne of Oxford and as I haue lernyd they ar not nyghe eny of the Kinges houses neyther hys graces parkes fforestes and chase by seven myles. And what ffyne wylbe gyuen ffor the same I know not neyther can lerne. And they ar the ffermers them selues yt desyreth to by the premysses[806].’
The price which the tenants offered was probably unsatisfactory; the impecunious Pye with his wages of 4d. a day can hardly have had a chance against wealthier speculators in monastic lands. In 1544 a successful bid was made by Richard Andrewes of Hales, Esquire (Glouc.), one of the largest of these speculators[807], who as usual was acting in partnership with another, in this case John Howe. On July 14th, 1544, the King granted to these two, in consideration of £1094 3s. 2d. paid by Richard Andrewes, various monastic lands in the counties of Derby, Middlesex, Oxford, &c., including the sites of the Black and Grey Friars in Oxford[808].
‘We give also and for the aforesaid consideration by these presents concede to the said Richard Andrewes and John Howe, the whole site of the house late of the friars Minors, commonly called “les Grey ffreers” within the town of Oxford now dissolved. And also our whole grove of land and wood with its appurtenances containing by estimation five acres of land, now or late in the tenure or occupation of William ffrewers and John Pye or their assigns; and our whole close of land called ‘le Churcheyarde’ with its appurtenances, now or late in the tenure or occupation of James Gunter or his assigns; and our whole garden or orchard called “Paradyse,” and our whole garden called Bateham or Boteham, now or late in the tenure or occupation of William Thomas or his assigns, with all and each of their appurtenances situated within the town of Oxford, lately belonging to the priory or house of the friars Minors ...; and all our houses, buildings, stables, granaries, curtilages, gardens (ortos), orchards, gardens (gardina), waters, ponds, vineyards, land and soil whatsoever with their appurtenances lying within the said boundary of the house of the friars Minors.... Which site of the late house of friars Minors and all the aforesaid houses, buildings, gardens, orchards, &c., belonging thereto, now amount (extenduntur) to the clear annual value of 30s.... We except however always and totally reserve out of the present concession, all the bells and the whole of the lead and glass on the said houses of the friars Minors and Preachers, except the lead and glass in the gutters and windows of the houses or mansions of the same friars: and also in like manner all the buildings and structures of the late churches, cloisters, refectories, dormitories, and chapterhouses of the said friars.’
All the property granted was to be held by Richard Andrewes and John Howe and the heirs and assigns of Richard Andrewes, in chief, ‘for the service of the twentieth part of one knight’s fee.’ An annual rent was to be paid to the King from each parcel of property, the rent of the site of the Friars Minors being 3s., that of the Friars Preachers 4s.
The purchase was purely a matter of speculation, and the next month (August 26th, 1544), Andrewes and Howe obtained from the King, for a fine of 9s., license to alienate the site of the Grey Friars, with the grove, churchyard, Paradise, and Boteham, and the buildings, except those already reserved for the King, to Richard Gunter, alderman of Oxford, and Joanna his wife, and the heirs and assigns of Richard Gunter, to be held by them ‘for the services due thence to us, our heirs, and successors[809].’ It does not appear whether the leases of Frewers, Pye, and Thomas, were cancelled or allowed to run their course.
The subsequent history of the property is obscure, and probably would not repay an exhaustive investigation. Wood states that the land
‘being shifted through severall hands doth now acknowledg also severall owners[810].’
Part of it was ‘now inhabited by tanners[811].’ The island or grove on the south of Trill Mill stream belonged
‘to Sir William Moorton, Kt., Judge of the King’s Bench, in right of his wife Anne, daughter and heir of John Smyth of Oxford, Gent[812].’