Interested in Gothic architecture? Then on You r next trip to York make sure You visit the York Minster.



We’ve visited the York Minster several times and each time there seems to be something to explore that we missed on our last visit.

The sheer size of the York Minster is mind boggling in itself, with the intricate patterns on the roof and the beautifully crafted stained glass windows.

Now one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions, the York Minster has offered prayer for almost 1000 years and still offers daily worship and prayer, educational services and pastoral care.

Rising protectively above the ancient city of York, the York Minster appears to be something fairytales are made of. It’s so easy to imagine the grand house of God playing host to a wedding worthy of royalty.

On You ’re visit it would be well worth making the trek up the stairs to the top of the tower – the view out over York city is well worth the climb to get there.

The Minster gift shop is the perfect place to search for trinkets and treasurers for friends and family or to purchase postcards to write home. Amongst the more popular gift choices with both locals and visitors from all over the world include books, CDs and jewellery.

If You ’re feeling peckish after wandering around the Minster and climbing the tower why not call in to York Minster’s own café and restaurant? The restaurant, which can be found in the grounds of St William’s College, has a seating capacity of 80 and features a range of home made drinks, snacks and meals. Enjoy a cake and cup of tea inside or eat lunch in the beautiful courtyard or pavement setting outside....by Kate Wiley

York Minster history


York Minster is an imposing Gothic cathedral in York, northern England.

It has a very wide decorated nave and chapter house, a perpendicular choir and east end, and Early English north and south transepts. The nave contains the West Window, constructed in 1338, and the Great East Window (finished in 1408) over the Lady Chapel in the east end. In the north transept is the Five Sisters Window, each lancet being over 16 metres high. The organ in the choir has been destroyed by fire on two occasions; the current device dates from 1829 and was substantially restored in 1993.

History
York has had a Christian presence from the 300s. The first church on the site was a wooden structure built hurriedly in 627 to provide a place to baptise Edwin, King of Northumbria. Moves toward a more substantial building began in the 630s. A stone structure was completed in 637 by Oswald and was dedicated to Saint Peter. The church soon fell into disrepair and was dilapidated by 670 when Saint Wilfred ascended to the see of York; he put in place effor ts to repair and renew the structure. The attached school and library were established and by the 8th century were some of the most substantial in northern Europe.

In 741 the church was destroyed in a fire, it was rebuilt as a more impressive structure, containing thirty altars. The church and the entire area then passed through the hands of numerous invaders, and its history is obscure until the 10th century. There was a series of Benedictine archbishops, including Saint Oswald, Wulfstan, and Ealdred, who travelled to Westminster to crown William in 1066. Ealdred died in 1069 and was buried in the church.

The church was damaged in 1069, but the first Norman archbishop, arriving in 1070, organised repairs. The Danes destroyed the church in 1075, but it was again rebuilt from 1080. Built in the Norman style, it was 365 feet long and rendered in white and red lines. The new structure was damaged by fire in 1137 but was soon repaired. The choir and crypt were remodelled in 1154, and a new chapel was built, all in the Norman style.

Gothic style in cathedrals had arrived in the mid 12th century. Walter de Gray was made archbishop in 1215 and ordered the construction of a Gothic structure to compare to Canterbury; building began in 1220. The north and south transepts were the first new structures; completed in the 1250s, both were built in the Early English Gothic style but had markedly different walls. A substantial central tower was also completed, with a wooden spire. Building continued into the 15th century. The Chapter House was completed in the 1260s. The wide nave was constructed from the 1280s on the Norman foundations. The outer roof was completed in the 1330s, but the vaulting was not finished until 1360. Construction then moved on to the eastern arm and chapels, with the last Norman structure, the choir, being demolished in the 1390s. In 1407 the central tower collapsed; the piers were then reinfor ced, and a new tower was built from 1420. The cathedral was declared complete in 1472.

The Refor mation led to the first Protestant archbishop, the looting of much of the cathedral's treasures, and the loss of much of the church lands. Under Elizabeth I there was a concerted effor t to remove all traces of Catholicism from the cathedral; there was much destruction of tombs, windows, and altars. In the English Civil War the city was besieged and fell to the for ces of Cromwell in 1644, but Thomas Fairfax prevented any further damage to the cathedral.

Following the easing of religious tensions there was some work to restore the cathedral. From 1730 to 1736 the whole floor of the Minster was relaid in patterned marble, and from 1802 there was a major restoration. However, in 1829 an arson attack inflicted heavy damage on the east arm, and an accidental fire in 1840 left the nave, south west tower, and south aisle roofless, blackened shells. The cathedral slumped deeply into debt, and in the 1850s services were suspended, but from 1858 Augustus Duncome worked successfully to revive the cathedral.

During the 20th century there was more concerted preservation work, especially following a 1967 survey that revealed the building was close to collapse. 2,000,000 was raised and spent by 1972 to reinfor ce and strengthen the building foundations and roof. A fire in 1984 destroyed the roof in the south transept, and around 2.5 million was spent on repairs.

Part of this article is from Wikipedia.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.