York Minister

Executive summary by darmansjah

York Minster is a cathedral in York, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York. The formal title of York Minster is "The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York". The title "minster" is attributed to churches established in the Anglo-Saxon period as missionary teaching churches, and serves now as an honorific title. The minster has a very wide Decorated Gothic nave and chapter house, a Perpendicular Gothic Quire and east end and Early English north and south transepts. The south transept contains a famous rose window, while the West Window contains a famous heart-shaped design, colloquially known as 'The Heart of Yorkshire.

York has had a verifiable Christian presence from the 4th century. A stone structure was completed in 637 by Oswald and was dedicated to Saint Peter. In 741 the church was destroyed in a fire. The church was damaged in 1069 during William the Conqueror's harrying of the North, but the first Norman archbishop, Thomas of Bayeux, arriving in 1070, organised repairs. The 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. A substantial central tower was also completed, with a wooden spire. Building continued into the 15th century.

Work here finished around 1405. An accidental fire in 1840 left the nave, south west tower and south aisle roofless and blackened shells. From 1858 Augustus Duncome worked successfully to revive the cathedral.

£2,000,000 was raised and spent by 1972 to reinforce and strengthen the building foundations and roof.

Shrines

On 18 March 1226, Pope Honorius issued a letter to the effect that the name of William (Fitzherbert), formerly Archbishop of York. The tomb of Walter de Gray was erected in the south transept.