Ladyewell Street and Ladyewell house, Location of Friary

The Hotel Built Over Friary Graveyard

The Tale of Catherine and Nicholas was originally going to be set in Elizabethan Preston. I moved it to 1628 and the reign of Charles Stuart for one reason, only. That was when the prison was built at the end of Friargate on the site of the old Friary from which it gets its name. Locating the site of the long demolished prison was a bit confusing as the ‘end’ of Friargate now is a large roundabout and a big pub called The Adelphi. But that seems to be a later extension. In the 17th century it seems to have ended at the junction with Marsh Lane, where a few years ago, while building a hotel, the Friary’s graveyard was discovered. No trace of the prison remains as far as I can tell. And rumours that it is part of the University of Central Lancashire which is also in that area are unfounded.

Friargate now. The prison was probably near the white building in far right view

Until the industrial revolution, Friargate and Fishergate, with the market and Cheapside inbetween WAS, literally all there was of the town of Preston. Since then it turned into a densely built up city. Those two long streets still exist along much the same line as they did then, though, and it is possible to do a fair amount of guesswork about how they would have looked.

Direct view down Friargate Brow from approximate location of old prison

I tried to find an authentic pub that was there back then, but the oldest existing one only goes back to the 18th century when Preston was a major stop for coaches and horses and beginning to be an industrial town. So I fell back on ‘The Angel’.

Fishergate meets Friargate at Cheapside and the Flag Market

As far as I know there has never been an inn called The Angel on Friargate, though it is hard to tell from ground evidence WHAT used to be there since a huge shopping centre has been there since the late 1960s. But Robert Neill, author of the seminal book about Lancashire in the 17th century, Mist Over Pendle, had his heroine stay in an inn called The Angel that must have been roughly where the entrance to St. George’s Shopping Centre now stands judging by his descriptions. So, I borrowed from that source. The scene in which Julia sits at the casement window looking down on the busy street somewhat recreates a rather nice scene from that book, at least up until the arrival of the prisoners.  

Friargate Brow

Reticella lace is the stuff used in Elizabethan and Stuart clothing to achieve that fabulous look they have. It is originally Italian, and I can’t imagine how much work went into the sort of collars rich Elizabethan women wore. But you can bet the makers were paid a pittance for it. Julia and Cal were probably purchasing fine fabrics made by sweated labour. But that would be par for the course in these times.

Where the Angel Might Have Stood

The story of Catherine and Nicholas is the stuff of folk songs, really. The names are authentic to the time and place. Their story is a familiar one in a lot of respects. The crucial thing really was how Chrístõ was supposed to rescue them without going against the Laws of Time and getting himself into trouble. In some ways the issue is fudged. This bit about their timelines being in flux is a bit too easy. But if it wasn’t possible to change things it would be impossible to write an historical story of any kind for the Doctor Who franchise.

This Friargate Pub isn't QUITE Old Enough

Yes, the ending does seem a bit odd. There really wasn’t any need to show them arriving in Plymouth once Chrístõ had said that was what they were going to do.

But it has been suggested that a follow up story set in the New World might be in order!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reticella
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=hotel+preston+bones+found&btnG=Search&meta

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/n/robert-neill/mist-over-pendle.htm

Or This One

The Flag Market in Modern Times