York Minster

York Minster—officially called the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York—is an Anglican cathedral located in York, North Yorkshire, England. It functions as the seat of the archbishop of York, who holds the second-highest office in the Church of England, and it acts as the mother church for both the diocese of York and the province of York. The dean and chapter oversee its administration. The building is a Grade I listed structure and a scheduled monument.

A church first appears in records on this spot in 627. The term "minster" goes back to the Anglo-Saxon period, originally meaning a missionary teaching church; today it is an honorific title. While the undercroft contains reused material from around 1160, most of the current structure was built between 1220 and 1472. The north and south transepts are Early English Gothic, the nave and chapter house are Decorated Gothic, and the eastern arm and central tower are Perpendicular Gothic.

Much of the medieval stained glass has survived here, which is unusual among European churches. The east window, showing the Last Judgment, is the largest expanse of medieval stained glass anywhere in the world. In the north transept, the Five Sisters window consists of five lancets, each over 53 feet (16.3 m) tall, filled with grisaille glass.

**History**

A bishop of York was called to the Council of Arles in 314, which suggests a Christian community existed in York then, though archaeological evidence for Christianity in Roman York is scarce. The first recorded church was a wooden structure built quickly in 627 to baptise Edwin, King of Northumbria. Where that church—and its successors before 1080—stood is unknown. It was probably inside or next to the old Roman principia (the military headquarters), which the king may have used when in York. Archaeological work shows the principia partly lay under the post-1080 Minster site, but excavations in 1967–73 found no remains of the pre-1080 churches. So Edwin’s church and its immediate successors were likely near the current Minster (possibly to the north, under today’s Dean’s Park) rather than directly on the same spot.

Plans for a more substantial building began soon after Edwin’s baptism. According to Bede, Edwin started building a larger stone church meant to surround the original wooden chapel where he was baptised. Oswald completed this stone structure in 637 and dedicated it to Saint Peter. By 670, when Saint Wilfrid became archbishop of York, the church had fallen into disrepair. He repaired and renewed it, adding lead roofs, glass windows, and rich furnishings. The attached school and library were established and, by the 8th century, ranked among the most important in Northern Europe.

A fire in 741 may have damaged or destroyed the cathedral, but any harm was short-lived. Alcuin, who does not mention the fire or rebuilding, wrote at length about the building’s wealth and grandeur. Yet the Annals of Yorkshire say that in 741, “Archbishop Egbert, assisted by Albert, a learned native, took it entirely down after the fire” and that Eanbald and Alcuin helped rebuild it “in the most magnificent style.” Albert succeeded Egbert and added many books to Egbert’s library, especially those he had gathered abroad as a youth; he died in 781, ten days after the new cathedral was consecrated. During his time, a grand altar covered with precious metals and jewels was erected over the site of Edwin’s baptism. A spectacular chandelier hung above the altar, and the cathedral possessed a rich silver cross and a golden cruet. The cathedral, along with the rest of the city, then passed through the hands of many invaders, and its history is unclear until the 10th century. Archbishop Wulstan (who died in 955, according to the annals) was temporarily imprisoned by King Edred for supporting Anlaff (and/or Eric). A series of Benedictine archbishops followed, including Saint Oswald of Worcester, Wulfstan, and Ealdred, who travelled to Westminster to crown William the Conqueror in 1066. Ealdred died in 1069 and was buried in the cathedral.

In January 1069, a rebellion backing Edgar Ætheling led to a brutal crackdown by William. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that William’s forces “ravaged the town, and made St Peter’s Minster a disgrace.” Later that year, Danish invaders supporting the Ætheling sailed up the Humber and Ouse; they attacked the city, starting a fire that burned the cathedral. Whatever remained of the cathedral may then have been further damaged by William’s Harrying of the North. The first Norman archbishop, Thomas of Bayeux, arrived in 1070 and apparently organised repairs, but in 1075 another Danish force sailed up the river, “travelled to York and broke into St Peter’s Minster, and there took much property, and so went away.” Building of a new Norman cathedral began in 1080 and was finished before Thomas’s death in 1100. This new cathedral was likely built immediately south of the old Saxon one, which was probably demolished once the new structure was complete—a similar approach was taken at Winchester around the same time. Built in the Norman style, the new cathedral was 364.173 ft (111 m) long and decorated with white and red lines. Fire damaged it in 1137, but it was soon repaired. The choir and crypt were remodelled in 1154, and a new chapel was added, all in the Norman style.

The Gothic style for cathedrals arrived in the mid-12th century. Walter de Gray became archbishop in 1215 and ordered the construction of a Gothic building to rival Canterbury; work started in 1220. The north and south transepts were the first new parts, completed in the 1250s, both built in the Early English style.