Crowngate Shopping Centre
Crowngate Worcester is a shopping centre in Worcester, England, built in part on the historic site of the Worcester Blackfriars monastery, and replacing the former Blackfriars shopping centre.
It contains forty-nine stores, with a range of both large and smaller units, including House of Fraser and Primark. There are three restaurants in the recently refurbished Friary Walk: Wildwood Kitchen, Bills restaurant and Anatolian Palace.
Other facilities include a 780 space, multi-story car park, Worcester's bus station and the Huntingdon Hall Theatre.
In October 2009 the centre underwent a £5 million refurbishment.
In 2017, plans for a new look for Crowngate were published, which were completed in 2019, and gave the existing building a brand new frontage.
Construction and excavations
Archaeological excavations were carried out in 1985–6, prior to the construction of the new centre. They uncovered:- a Roman road and timber buildings
- a Saxon building and bread ovens
- the cloisters and friary church of the monastery, which were aligned with the Roman Road
- civil war defences facing towards St Johns.
There are plaques dotted around Crowngate, to be found, which tell the history of the site.