The decision to establish the fraternity in England was taken by St. Francis of Assisi himself and confirmed by the general chapter, probably in 1224. Angellus of Pisa, an experienced friar who had been the Custos of Paris, was selected by the Saint to lead the mission.

A band of nine friars arrived in Dover on 10th September 1224, opening a glittering chapter in the history of the fraternity. The following 315 years witnessed the emergence of a province, whose gifted alumni included exceptionally talented preachers, theologians of international reputation, diplomats, missionaries, martyrs, poets and musicians.

The first nine friars arrived in England reflected the cosmopolitan nature of the Franciscan movement and included friars from England, France and Italy. Within six weeks of their arrival the friars were settling in Canterbury, London, and Oxford, the country's leading ecclesiastical, commercial and educational centres. The movement soon expanded into Cambridge, Northampton Norwich and other major cities and towns.

It was only in the fourteenth century that friaries were built in small towns like Walsingham. Friaries were founded in Ireland and Scotland and they laid the foundation for the formation of the province in the 1230s. The fraternity spread into Wales in the same decade, having three foundations.

The English Franciscan fraternity expanded rapidly at a breathtaking speed. In September 1224 there were nine friars. Thirty two years later, the number had rocketed to 1,242 and by the end of that century fifty nine foundations had been made, with a further to follow in the fourteenth century.

The appeal of the friars' life style drew men of different ages and backgrounds to seek admission, and among them were tradesmen and nobles, priests and bishops, monks and abbots, students and professors. Hugh de Willoughby, the former chancellor of Oxford University, who entered the fraternity in 1347, was one of the outstanding intellectuals of that time.

The end of the thirteenth century witnessed the emergence of the large mendicant churches, whose architecture was based on the need to accommodate the vast numbers who flocked to hear the vibrant sermons of the friars. Their words were aflame with ardour and zeal as they applied the principles of the Gospel to the conditions of the urban communities. Unlike the monks, the friars lived among the people. Unlike other religious, the friars saw preaching as a mandate arising from their Rule. The friars promoted the participation of the faithful in their daily celebration of the Mass and the Divine Office.

The English Franciscan friars provided a welcome response to the increasing pastoral needs of the church, and the friars' ministry was enthusiastically welcomed by many. Their links with the papacy were strong. The members of the English province served as confessors, chaplains, penitentiaries, envoys and theologians. They laboured as missionaries in various countries as they still do today.

The surrender of the northern friaries in the spring of 1539 effectively ended the first phase of the Franciscan adventure in England.

It is one of the ironies of history that the Crown, which had been outstanding in its support for the friars from Henry II onwards, suppressed the fraternity and swept away all vestiges of the friaries, which had been so prominent a feature of English life for 315 years.