Few cities can rival York in interest, dignity and importance. The ancient city of Roman CÆsars, the centre of Saxon Christianity, of Danish supremacy, of mercantile enterprise, the abode of kings, the seat of an archbishopric that long contended for supremacy with Canterbury, York may well claim a foremost place in English history, and possesses features of peculiar interest. Professor Freeman stated that "Eboracum (York) holds a place which is unique in the history of Britain, which is shared only by one other city in the lands north of the Alps (Treves)." Here the Emperor Constantius died, here Constantine the Great was crowned. Bishops of York were present at the Councils of Arles (314), NicÆa and Sardica, and when the Christian faith died out, killed by Pagan Saxons, Paulinus taught again the lessons of the holy Cross, and baptised Edwin, the king, in a little wooden church which stood on the site of the present Cathedral. Then Christianity died down, killed by the onslaughts of fierce Paganism, until at length, under the influence of Oswald and the monks of Iona and Lindisfarne, the Cross again triumphed. There was much contention between the Roman faction, led by Wilfrid, and the upholders of the native church, as regards customs and observances, and the influence of Wilfrid predominated. Wilfrid was a great builder, restored the Cathedral at York and erected large churches at Ripon and Hexham. The Danes overran Northumbria, and under their rule York increased its importance and became a large and flourishing city.

Then came the Norman Conquest, and we find Ældred, Archbishop of York, crowning William at Westminster, but his people liked not the change of rulers and rebelled. The Conqueror came and ruthlessly crushed the revolt, and after his wont erected a castle to overawe his subjects. Again they rebelled; the king swore deep vengeance, and terrible was the punishment inflicted on the northern kingdom. He appointed Thomas of Bayeaux archbishop, who set about repairing the ruined church, and built a new nave with side aisles and transepts, using the old church as a choir for the new. For years the question of the supremacy of York or Canterbury disturbed the ecclesiastical affairs of England, and on one occasion at a council the Metropolitan of York, finding his brother of Canterbury occupying the seat of honour at the right of the Papal legate, gravely sat down on the latter's lap. In the reign of Henry II. came Roger de Pont l'EvÊque, who built the new choir and crypt, removing the remains of the old Saxon church.

The people of York have ever been eager for fighting, revolt and riot. Sometimes we find them killing Jews; now disputing with the monks of St. Mary's Abbey, because some offending citizen had escaped their vengeance by claiming the right of sanctuary; now fighting against the Scots, and even rebelling against rulers who were obnoxious to them. Kings of the House of Lancaster were especially hateful, and nowhere in the kingdom did reformers of religion find more bitter opponents.

During the rule of Walter de Grey, archbishop (1216-1255), the Norman transepts were removed and the present ones built, and in the reign of the Edwards the old Norman nave was replaced by the present one, and the chapter-house built. At this period York enjoyed much prosperity. The Scottish wars brought kings here who made it the military and civil capital of the whole country. Parliaments were held here. York Minster saw the marriage of Edward III., and the burial of his infant son. But rebellions against the kings of the House of Lancaster, the famous Pilgrimage of Grace against the reformed doctrines, and other risings, diminished its influence and deprived it of many privileges. York was besieged for six weeks during the Civil War, and suffered much; but happily General Fairfax exercised a restraining influence on his soldiers and prevented them from damaging the Cathedral. Although the citizens at the Reformation rebelled against the "new Religion," at the Restoration they rebelled against the overthrow of Puritanism; and again, when James II. endeavoured to restore Roman Catholicism, they rebelled again, attacked the Roman Catholic prelate whom the king sent to them, wrested from him his silver-gilt crozier, and took it in triumph to the minster, where it remains until this day.

We will now briefly trace the history of the building, which has been rightly called "the King of Cathedrals." In 627 Paulinus built his little wooden church for the baptism of King Edwin. A year later a stone church was begun, which was finished by Oswald and repaired by Wilfrid. In the crypt are some of the walls of this early church, which show the "herring-bone" work of Saxon builders. When the Conqueror besieged York much destruction was wrought on this church.

In 1070 Archbishop Thomas of Bayeaux built the Norman nave and transepts, and used the old church as the choir. The apse in the crypt and the core of the tower piers are the remains of this work.

In 1154-1181 choir and crypt were rebuilt by Roger in Late Norman style.

In 1230-1260 the present transepts were built.

In 1291-1324 Norman nave was taken down and the new nave built, and also the chapter-house, vestibule, sacristy and treasury. In 1338 the west front of nave was erected.

In 1361-1400 choir rebuilt and Lady Chapel.

In 1400-1423 central tower built in place of Early English lantern.

In 1433-1474 north and south-western towers built.

The Cathedral was now complete. At the beginning of the sixteenth century the organ-screen was erected, and two disastrous fires in 1829 and 1840 necessitated considerable repairs, and in 1875 some needful restoration of the south transept was carried out.

The Exterior

The West Front is "more architecturally perfect as a composition and in its details than that of any other English cathedral," and is unquestionably the best cathedral faÇade in this country. The lower part, with the entrances and lower windows, belongs to the Early Decorated period. Above the windows the work is Late Decorated, and the towers above the roof Perpendicular. Numerous niches cover the surface. It is doubtful whether they ever contained statues. The principal entrance is divided by a clustered pier, and above it is a circle filled with cusped tracery. Over the whole doorway is a deeply-recessed arch, and over that a gable with niches, one of which contains the statue of an archbishop, supposed to be John le Romeyn, who began the nave in 1291, and other niches have figures of a Percy and a Vavasour, who gave the wood and stone for the building. The favourite ball-flower ornament of the Decorated style is seen on the gable, and the mouldings in the arches have figures representing the history of Adam and Eve. Above the entrance is a large eight-light window, pronounced by many to be too large even for York Minster, containing very elaborate and beautiful tracery, and over it is a pointed gable. On each side of the west window are buttresses covered with panelling and niches. The noble towers, rising on each side of the west front, have buttresses similarly adorned, and each three windows, and over the second an open battlement forms a walk along the whole front. The towers have battlements and pinnacles. The south-west tower (1433-1457) was injured by fire in 1840; and the north tower (1470-1474) has the largest bell in the kingdom.

The Nave is divided into seven bays by high buttresses, on the south side crowned with pinnacles. It was evidently originally intended to connect them with the clerestory wall by flying buttresses to support a stone vaulted roof. But the builders were alarmed by the great span of the roof and substituted a wooden vault. Hence the flying buttresses were not needed. There are some curious gargoyles. The north side is plainer, as formerly the Palace would conceal any elaborate carving. The style is Decorated.

The South Transept (1216-1241) is of Early English design. The central porch is not remarkable, though the clustered shafts are very fine, ornamented with dog-tooth ornament. On each side are lancet windows, and above similar windows; higher still a large rose window, and in the gable a cusped triangular light. Arcaded buttresses with octagonal turrets rise on each side. Extensive restoration took place in 1871, when the old clock was removed.

The Choir and Lady Chapel are Perpendicular work. The four eastern bays, constituting the Lady Chapel, are earlier than the later ones of the choir, and vary in detail. The triforium passage in the former is outside the building, and the windows are recessed. Strange gargoyles, with figures of apes and demons, adorn the buttresses. The east end is mainly filled with the huge window, the largest in England, which does not leave much space for architectural detail. Above it is the figure of Archbishop Thoresby, the builder of this part of the Cathedral. Panelling covers the surface of the stone, and below the window is a row of seventeen busts, representing our Lord and His Apostles, Edward III. and Archbishop Thoresby. There are two aisle windows; buttresses adorned with niches separate the aisles from the central portion, and others, capped with spires, stand on the north and south of this front.

The Chapter-House (Early Decorated) is octagonal, and connected with the north transept by a vestibule, which shows by its architectural details that it was built after the completion of the chapter-house. These constitute the finest examples of Decorated Gothic in England. Buttresses project at each angle, crowned with pinnacles. Curious grotesque gargoyles are seen, and amongst them some strange-looking bears. The roof is in the form of a pyramid, and there is a battlement surrounding it.

The North Transept (1241-1260) is a beautiful specimen of Early English work. The five long lancet windows, called the "Five Sisters," surmounted by the seven lancets in the gable, are most effective.

The Central Tower is the largest in England, and is in the Perpendicular style (1410-1433). It is 200 feet high. It has windows ornamented with ogee gables, and its surface is covered with niches and panelling. A pair of narrow buttresses support each angle of the tower, decorated with panelling. This tower is one of the greatest achievements of the fifteenth-century builders, and is one of the finest in the world.

The Interior

The Nave.—The first impression on viewing this nave is a sense of its magnitude. Archbishop Romeyn and his builders determined to build a vast church which would eclipse all other rivals. They would have large windows, high, towering piers, a huge, vaulted roof, and everything that was grand and impressive. Edward I. was then fighting with the Scots, and made York his chief city. It was immensely prosperous, and the ecclesiastical treasury was replete with the offerings of knights and nobles, kings and pilgrims. Nowhere should there be so mighty a church as York Minster. In order to have space for large windows they made the triforium unusually small, which is formed only by a continuation of the arches of the clerestory windows. The design for the stone vaulted roof was never carried out. The builders feared that the great weight of a roof with so large a span would be too much for the walls, so a wooden vault was substituted. The piers have octagonal bases, and consist of various sized shafts closely connected. The capitals are beautifully enriched with foliage of oak and thorn, and sometimes a figure is seen amidst the foliage. We notice thirty-two sculptured busts at the intersection of the hood moulding with the vaulting shafts. Coats of arms of the benefactors of York appear on each side of the main arches. The clerestory windows have each five lights. The old roof was destroyed by fire in 1840. The present one has a vast number of bosses representing the Annunciation, Nativity, Magi, Resurrection, besides a quantity of smaller ones. The whole scheme of decoration is most elaborate.

The west window is a noble specimen of Decorated work, with its curvilinear tracery, one of the finest in the kingdom. It has been entirely restored. There are eight lights. It was glazed by Archbishop Melton (1317-1340). Niches and arcading cover the west wall. The pinnacles are carved with figures of men and animals, and also the brackets of the niches. The aisles have stone vaulting, windows Decorated like the west window, carved panels and arcading work. Over the north doorway are some sculptured figures of doubtful signification. The walled-up door which led to the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre has a headless figure of the Virgin. Here is a tomb of an archbishop of Late Perpendicular work, with Tudor flower cornice. All the other monuments have been destroyed. Over the south aisle door are three sculptured representations of David killing the lion, Samson and the lion with Delilah cutting his hair, and a man and woman fighting. The glass of the windows should be especially noticed. Most of it is either Decorated or Early English.

The South Transept is the earliest part of the present Cathedral (1230-1241). The finest view is obtained on entering by the south door. The extraordinary magnitude of the transepts, the five lancets with their old glass, and the beauty of the Early English architecture, are most striking. The triforium is not dwarfed as in the nave, but assumes large proportions, whereas the clerestory is small. The former consists of semi-circular moulded arches, with dog-tooth ornament, each enclosing two pointed arches, and sub-divided into two similar arches. Five pointed arches in each bay constitute the clerestory, with sculptured heads. Clustered shafts of stone and Purbeck marble form the piers. The vaulting is of wood of the fifteenth century, and the bosses are curious. A mermaid and merman, a monk and a nun, look down upon us; an arcade of pointed arches lines the walls. Chantry chapels were formerly in the east aisle. On the south was Ludham's Chantry, archbishop (1258-1265). It contains the large modern monument of Dean Duncombe. Next we see the Chapel of St. Michael with the tomb of its founder, Archbishop Grey (1216-1255), the builder of this transept, and near it the monument of Archbishop Sewal de Bovill (1256-1258).

The North Transept resembles the south, but differs in details. Especially noticeable is the profusion of dog-tooth ornament, the magnificent lancet windows, called the "Five Sisters," with the five smaller ones over it. These are the largest ancient lancets in England.[16] Curious grotesques are seen in the triforium moulding. The monuments here are:—(1) a brass to the memory of soldiers slain in India; (2) Archbishop Harcourt's tomb (1808-1843); (3) a skeleton memorial of Thomas Huxby, treasurer (1418-1424); (4) Archbishop Greenfield's tomb (d. 1315), which lies before the place where the altar of St. Nicholas stood; (5) effigy of Dr. Beckwith (d. 1847).

In 1829 a disastrous fire occurred in the Cathedral, caused by a lunatic incendiary named Martin. He hid himself on the night of the fire behind the tomb of Archbishop Greenfield. There is a curious doorway leading to the vestibule of the chapter-house of Decorated style.

Entering the Vestibule we notice the exact place where the Early English builders finished their work, and the Decorated style begins. The difference between the styles in the chapter-house and vestibule shows that the former was erected first. It has a wall arcade, and above are windows of curious tracery, filled with beautiful old glass. The shafts of the arcade support trefoiled arches, with a cinquefoil ornamented with a sculptured boss. Each boss and capital is beautifully carved with foliage, amidst which the heads of men and dragons appear. The glass is Early Decorated, and contains representations of Royal personages.

The Chapter-House is one of the most beautiful in England. The entrance is an arch, divided into two arches by a canopied pier, which bears a mutilated statue of the Virgin and Child. Clustered shafts, with capitals, are on each side of the doors, which have remarkably good scrolled iron-work. The chamber itself is very magnificent. It is octagonal, and in each bay there are six canopied stalls under a five-light window. The window tracery is superb. Clustered shafts support the vaulted roof. Everywhere we see richly-carved stone-work, the finest in any cathedral, the foliage of maple, oak, vine, and other trees. Here are pigs and squirrels feeding on acorns, men gathering grapes, birds, and coiled dragons and reptiles. The grotesques are most curious and interesting. In 1845, unfortunately, the building was restored, and the painted figures of kings and bishops were destroyed, a poor tiled floor laid down; but, in spite of all, it can still maintain its proud boast:—

["As the Rose is the flower of flowers, so is this House the chief of Houses."]

The Choir-Screen, erected in 1500, is good Perpendicular work, and has figures of kings from William I. to Henry VI. The rebus of the master-mason, Hyndeley (a hind lying) occurs in the capitals. The canopies are richly carved. There is an ogee pediment, and a niche with angels on each side, with censers. The Tudor flower is used as an ornament, and plaster angels by Bernasconi were added in 1810. The organ was erected in 1632.

The Choir and Lady Chapel.—The Lady Chapel, occupying the four east bays, was built in 1361-1405, the choir in 1407-1420. The style is Perpendicular, though it follows the design of the nave; yet the builders endeavoured to improve upon the earlier work and remedy its defects. They were eminently successful, and produced one of the most stately and magnificent choirs in England. The roof is made of wood, like the nave, and has a large number of foliated bosses. A disastrous fire in 1829 destroyed all the old carved stalls and misereres, and the modern substitutes are fairly successful. The altar-screen is a good reproduction of the ancient one, and the reredos was designed by Street, with reliefs by Tinworth. The lectern was given by T. Cracroft in 1686. The differences in the style of the clerestory windows in the east and west portions will be readily noticed. Only in the western part is the Perpendicular style fully developed. The east window is the largest window in England, retaining its original glazing, but in actual size it is surpassed by that at Gloucester. Its height is 75 feet, and breadth 32 feet, and each compartment is a yard square. The artist of the glass was one Thornton, of Coventry.

The Altar of the Virgin stood under this window, and here was a chantry, founded by the Percys. There is a curious ancient carving, much mutilated, of the Virgin and Child. Archbishop Bowet's Chantry (1407-1423) was at the east of the south aisle, and his tomb is here, the finest in the Cathedral, though much mutilated. There are many monuments in the choir, which are too numerous to mention—the second son of Edward III. (d. 1344), Archbishop Savage (d. 1507), Archbishop Sterne (1689), Archbishop Scrope, beheaded by Henry IV., to whose tomb there was great resort by pilgrims.

The Crypt was mainly discovered after the fire of 1829. It has fine Norman piers, part of Roger's Cathedral (d. 1181), and contains some "herring-bone" work of Saxon architecture, the remains of Edwin's church. The vestry has some very interesting antiquities: an old Installation Chair, used at the consecration and enthronement of the archbishops; an old treasury-chest; Prayer-Book and Bible, presented by Charles I.; an old chained Bible; two misereres, left after the fire; a pastoral staff of 1686; the famous Horn of Alphus, presented before the Conquest, the title-deed to several acres of land held by horn tenure; chalices and patens of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; episcopal rings, and the bowl of the Cordwainers' Company, formerly belonging to Archbishop Scrope.

The vastness of York Minster, with its forest of clustered pillars, its unrivalled ancient stained glass, its importance as the metropolitan church of Northern England, combine to make this splendid Cathedral one of the most interesting in the kingdom.

Other Objects of Interest in the City

St. Mary's Abbey, in the Museum Gardens, founded by Earl Sward in 1050. The present buildings were erected, after a fire in 1137, in 1270, and the Abbey grew to become one of great wealth and importance. The style is Decorated. On the site of the abbot's house is the King's Manor, or Royal Palace, now used as a Blind School. Near at hand is the Multangular Tower, which formed part of the old Roman wall, and St. Leonard's Hospital, founded by King Athelstan in 936 A.D., and rebuilt by Stephen. The Museum is worthy of a visit, and the Hospitium of the old Abbey, which now contains a good collection of Roman antiquities and carved stones from the Abbey.

St. William's College (College Street), the famous abode of the chantry priests of the Cathedral, founded in 1460, is now a series of cottages.

The city walls should be visited, and the old gates—Mickelgate, Walmgate, Monkgate, and Bootham Bar. The hall of the Merchant Adventurers' Company is interesting, and Clifford's Tower, the keep of the Conqueror's castle, celebrated for the Massacre of the Jews in 1190. Many of the churches are ancient, and have beautifully-carved doors and interesting old glass. The Church of St. Mary the Younger has a Saxon tower.

Dimensions

For Building Dates see page 312.