York Minster

York – Edwin’s Minster

York’s cathedral, although known as a minster, is officially the ‘Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York’. By definition a cathedral is the site of a bishop’s throne – ‘a cathedra’ – but the word ‘cathedral’ did not come into use until after the Norman conquest. In Anglo-Saxon times important churches were minsters, but not all were bishops’ seats.

York Minster’s history begins in A 627 when King Edwin of Northumbria was baptised in a simple wooden church at York within the site of the old Roman fort. The church was approved by the Pope and its dedication to St Peter reflected its links with Rome.

The wooden church was rebuilt in stone and completed by King Oswald but the bishop’s seat was transferred for a time to Lindisfarne. The minster was rebuilt again in AD 664 and again after a fire in AD 741. It was eventually destroyed during the Norman siege of the city in 1069.

From Norman to Gothic

York Minster is built in the Gothic style of architecture but what is not widely known is that York was once, like Durham, a Norman cathedral. The Norman cathedral at York was started before Durham in 1070 by the Archbishop of York, Thomas of Bayeux and a Norman choir was added towards the end of the following century (after Durham) by Archbishop Roger of Pont L’Eveque.

Roger’s work seems to have been influenced by Durham Cathedral, but the only remains of the Norman Cathedral at York are below ground level in the minster crypt.

One thing York lacked in the early days was a shrine and the shrines of saints were a rich source of revenue for Medieval cathedrals. So, in the thirteenth century William Fitzherbert, Archbishop of York, was posthumously canonised and became St William of York. This encouraged pilgrims to visit York and helped the minster compete with other shrines such as St John Lee’s at Beverley Minster.

The Minster represents almost every stage of the Gothic style of architecture from 1230 to 1475. The Gothic style is most notable for its distinctive pointed arches and its rich decoration.

The present York Minster was built from 1220 and the old Norman cathedral was dismantled in stages as Gothic additions were made. The Gothic style was adopted at York to keep up with the new fashion and allowed considerable enlargement to the cathedral in keeping with its status as the centre of an Archbishopric.

The Gothic style minster at York was started around 1220 by Archbishop Walter de Grey (1216-1255). He replaced the Norman transepts with Early English Gothic transepts in the period 1227 to 1260.

The new transepts dwarfed the Norman nave so one of Grey’s successors, Archbishop John Romanus, replaced the nave with a new Gothic structure from 1291. The Norman choir was replaced by Archbishop Thoresby from 1361 and by 1400 the minster was entirely Gothic.

York Minster, central tower © David Simpson

The central tower was added in 1405-1415, using money donated by Walter Skirlaw, the Bishop of Durham, and the western towers added from 1433 to 1475. The minster was finally completed and consecrated on July 3, 1472.

The Minster is built of oolitic limestone from the Tadcaster area and gives the minster its white appearance. York has the highest proportion of Medieval stained glass of any European cathedral including a magnificent window known as the Heart of Yorkshire.

York Minster Roof — Looking up to the roof in York Minster © David Simpson

Minster Yard and Deans Park

The Minster Yard is the pedestrianised street on the south and eastern periphery of York Minster that continues into the neighbouring secluded gardens of Deans Park on the north side of the minster. Adjoining streets include College Street, Chapter House Street and Precentors Court. Most of the buildings in this area are connected to the Dean and Chapter of York.

York Minster from the Dean's Park — York Minster from the Dean’s Park © David Simpson

Just off Duncombe Place, on the south side of York Minster, the Minster Yard is separated from neighbouring High Petergate by the church of St Michael Belfrey which is somewhat overshadowed by the minster here. This is a lively part of York bustling with tourists photographing the minster and is joined on its south side by the short street called Minster Gates that links the Minster Yard to Stonegate.

York Minster from the Minster Yard © David Simpson

Features of the Minster Yard include the statue of the Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great and nearby a Roman column that once stood within the headquarters building of the Roman legionary fortress of Eboracum at York (see York origins).

Roman column, Minster Yard, York © David Simpson

The Roman column stands outside a building of seven bays that was formerly known as Minster Chambers. It dates from 1837 and in recent years was used as part of York Minster School, which sadly closed in 2020. In front of this building and the Roman column is a small green stretching into the neighbouring street of Deangate alongside which we find another similar building that was also once part of the Minster School.

York Minster Refectory and Bar, formerly Song School, York © David Simpson

This particular building was built by J.P Pritchett 1830-33 as part of the Minster Song School but now serves as the York Minster Refectory restaurant and bar. The garden of an Italian restaurant in High Petergate that was formerly as School for Girls backs on to these grounds.

York Minster from Deangate © David Simpson

Deangate links the Minster Yard to Goodramgate and the eastern end of College Street, slightly to the north, where we find the Cross Keys pub, an appropriate pub name given the area’s connection to St Peter to whom York Minster is dedicated

Cross Keys, Deangate, York © David Simpson

Returning to the Minster Yard which now curves round the east end of York Minster, is an area called the Queens Path, where a plaque recalls that the Elizabeth II distributed Maundy money in York on March 30, 1972 and April 5, 2012.

Here, we find ourselves outside the spectacular east window of York Minster near the western end of College Street. In College Street itself is the impressive timber-framed St William’s College.

York Minster East Window © David Simpson

The Treasurer’s House and Deanery

Minster Yard now twists westward passing Georgian houses associated with York’s Dean and Chapter and is joined by Chapter House Street on its north side.

Chapter House Street, York © David Simpson

Passing through some gates, the cobbled Minister Yard street then passes through some gates and skirts the Chapter House of York Minster. Here we get a super view of the Treasurer’s House as we continue towards the Dean Park.

Treasurer's House, York — Treasurer’s House, York © David Simpson

The Treasurer’s House, now a property of the National Trust is an impressive building with interesting external gables (there are similar gables on a house in nearby Ogleforth). It is mainly seventeenth and eighteenth century with cellars dating back to the thirteenth century. The Treasurer’s House was historically the home to the Treasurer of York Minster.

John Goodricke plaque, York © David Simpson

A plaque on a wall near the Treasurer’s house recalls the work of the eighteenth century deaf astronomer, John Goodricke FRS (1764-1786) who observed variable stars from the apartments his family rented within the Treasurer’s House.

The story of the Treasurer’s House encompasses the spectral as well as the celestial as it is the setting for York’s best-known and most epic-scale ghost story. It concerns a young plumbing apprentice called Harry Martindale who was working in the cellar in 1953.

Treasurer's House from Chapter House Street, York — Treasurer’s House from Chapter House Street, York © David Simpson

Young Harry’s work was interrupted, quite suddenly, by the sound of a distant trumpet and then without further warning, a horse’s head emerged through the solid cellar wall, followed by its rider. As he ran in fear, Harry turned to see the horseman followed by misery-filled marching men. These spirits of Roman soldiers complete with helmets, their legs missing below their knees as they marched on some unseen buried floor continued marching on, straight through the wall on the other side of the cellar.

Remarkably, the bases of Roman columns have been found in the cellar of the Treasurer’s House and the house itself partly stands on the site of the Via Decumana a Roman route and street in and out of the northern wall of the Roman fortress of Eboracum, from which Roman legions presumably made their way north towards Hadrian’s Wall and beyond.

Attached to the Treasurer’s House and forming a courtyard along with it is a house called Gray’s Court, part of St John’s College. Behind its facade, parts of this building are twelfth and thirteenth century and were part pop the original, earlier Treasurer’s House of medieval times.

Gray's Court, York — Gray’s Court, York © David Simpson

The entrance archway to the Gray’s Court courtyard is at the top north eastern end of Chapter House Street where the street makes a bend to become the street of Ogleforth, the historic route linking the Minster area to Goodramgate and Monk Bar.

Next to the Treasurer’s House is Minster court where the houses of the York canons are seventeenth and eighteenth century remodelling of earlier houses of the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries

Nearby footpaths take us through the lovely grounds of the Deans Park area which lie within the far north-western corner of York’s city walls forming a quiet haven, where you will find the surprising figure of Paddington Bear sitting on a bench enjoying a marmalade sandwich.

Shield, crossed Keys of St Peter, Deanery gates, York © David Simpson

Towards the northern corner of the park is the Deanery, a large red brick Neo-Georgian house, secluded behind gates. It was built by the architects Rutherford and Symes for the Dean of York in 1938-39. The gates of the Deanery incorporate the cross key symbol of St Peter that symbolise the gates to heaven.

Nearby further along the pathway to the west we find a little ‘bug hotel’ designed to encourage wildlife and next to it is the York Minster Library.

Minster Library, old palace site, York © David Simpson

This building was formerly the chapel of the Archbishop of York’s palace but was restored, “far too drastically to be enjoyable”, according to the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner. The restoration work was undertaken by William Short from 1806 to 1813, with the original thought to be of around 1230 and built for Archbishop De Grey who was Archbishop of York from 1215-1255.

The only remains of the actual Archbishop’s Palace itself are a short section of its Norman arcade that are no later than the time of Archbishop Pont L’Eveque near to an adjacent war memorial. The palace fell into decline and subsequent ruin following the Reformation with the Archbishops preferring to reside at their palaces of Cawood near Selby and Bishopthorpe just outside York which are both to to the south of the city.

Nearby as we begin to head towards the western end of the minster we find a group of buildings called ‘Purey-Cust’. They include the Neo-Tudor Purey-Cust Chambers built in 1924 as a residence for York Minster canons and alongside it is a nineteen-bay brick Neo -Georgian house of 1914. This formed the main part of the Purey-Cust Hospital founded in 1914 by Arthur Purey-Cust, who was a Dean of York from 1880 to 1916. At the entrance to these buildings is the Purey Cust lodge and gatehouse which date from the 1840s.

Purey Cust Lodge gateway, York © David Simpson

Alongside this gateway to the south as we approach High Petergate is a narrow street called Precentors Court that runs along the rear of part of High Petergate. Here the houses are mostly Georgian but include a house of 1680. Just outside the gate at the south end of Precentors Court we face the main public entrance to York Minster at its western end beneath the minster’s prominent western towers.