Friarage tapestry restored and refreshed!
The large and colourful tapestry which hangs above the doors of the main entrance at the Friarage has recently undergone restorative cleaning thanks to funding from Friends of the Friarage, ensuring it is fit to be enjoyed for many more years to come by all who visit the hospital.
The tapestry depicts, and is an important part of, the rich and varied history of the Friarage hospital site, which was founded over 600 years ago in 1356 as the Carmelite Friarage.
Since then, the area around the Friarage that we know today has undergone many changes. The land was known as Friarage Fields and up until to the 1840s was arable land used for farming. The site was later quarried and from 1858 and into the 20th century, Friarage Fields was used for the annual Northallerton Agricultural Show and The Northallerton Carnival.
In 1858 Northallerton Union Workhouse was erected on the site, which is now Zetland House, the white-rendered building at the entrance to the Friarage.
At the outbreak of World War 2 in 1939, a new hospital was built to care for expected bombing casualties from Teesside. The land for the new hospital was the very same land that the Carmelite Friary had occupied 400 years earlier and eventually gave the hospital its name of the Friarage.
In 1943 the hospital became the Royal Air Force Hospital Northallerton. During this time the Vale of York was a mass of Bomber Command aerodromes, with an enormous potential for incoming patients and casualties. In December 1942 the Royal Canadian Air Force had arrived to form the No. 6 Group Bomber Command and took control of many airfields in the region, with many casualties sustained. In one month alone, 155 Canadian airmen were hospitalised in Northallerton. Two years after the war ended, in 1947 the RCAF left and the Friarage eventually became an NHS hospital following the introduction of the National Health Service.
All of this incredible history has been celebrated in the tapestry and includes;
- The shield of the Order of the Carmelites
- The Workhouse
- The Showground tents and carnival flags
- An airstrip to symbolise the association with the RCAF
- The shield of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps
Pictured in the photo with the tapestry and a copy of ‘The Friarage Story’ is President of the Nurses League and Friends of the Friarage supporter Eva Shuttleworth, who worked at the Friarage for 45 years and therefore witnessed many changes at the hospital during her career. Eva tells us,
“I started my nurses career at the Friarage in 1957 as a cadet and over the years held various nursing positions, becoming clinical nurse adviser for Northallerton Health Services Trust, specialising in Occupational Health and Infection Control, sharing knowledge throughout with fellow colleagues until my retirement in 2002.”
“It was a privilege to come to see the refreshed tapestry at the Friarage and it's wonderful to know it will now stay there for many more years in its rightful place.”