 At the beginning of the 14th century there had been around 5,000 friars in England, occupying extensive complexes in all towns of any size.There were still around 200 friaries in England at the dissolution.But, except for the Observant Franciscans, by the 16th century the friars' income from donations had collapsed, their numbers had shrunk to less than 1,000 and their conventual buildings were often ruinous or leased out commercially, as too were their enclosed vegetable gardens.