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FAQs

The following page contains some of the frequently asked questions.

Education

  1. Why is the Minster a Minster?

    Minster Churches are basically churches that were established in the Anglo Saxon period as missionary teaching churches. York Minster is also the Church of the Archbishop of York. He is the most senior bishop in the North of England. It is where he has his seat, called a Cathedra, which makes York Minster a Cathedral as well.

    Not all Minsters are Cathedrals, and not all Cathedrals are Minsters, but York Minster is both. The present Minster is the largest Gothic Cathedral in northern Europe and was built over a period of 250 years

  2. Who is the Minster named after?

    The Minster since its foundation in 627 has always been named after St Peter. The full legal title of the Minster is:- The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York

  3. What is the Minster made from?

    The Minster is made from magnesian (not magnesium) limestone, which comes from about 12 miles from York. The roof and main vaults are all made from wood, mainly oak. Most of the vaults, although made of wood, have been plastered and painted white.

  4. When was the Minster built?

    The first Minster was built for the Baptism of an Anglo Saxon king called Edwin in 627 AD. It was small and built of wood and named after St Peter. This church slowly grew and developed into a quite large stone church. This church was badly damaged when York was captured by the Normans in 1069.

    Between 1080 and 1100 a new stone Minster was built, this was the direct ancestor of the Minster that we have today. In the year 1220 Archbishop Walter Gray started to rebuild the Norman church by making the South Transept much larger the north side was enlarged at about the same time. In 1295 work began on the Nave, which took 70 years to complete. The East end was started in about 1360 and was completed by around 1407 when the central tower collapsed. From 1407 to 1433 a new central tower was built. The Minster as we know it today was finally finished in the year 1472. It had taken about 250 years to build!

  5. Is the Minster still used for services?

    Yes, there are at least three services in the Minster everyday. The Minster is also used for large Northern services some of which can number over 2000 people. At Christmas and Easter there are many extra services.

  6. How much did the Minster cost to build?

    Unfortunately we do not know. The Fabric Rolls held in the Minster library detail the costs of various items, wages paid to people, and amounts spent on building. Many of the rolls have been lost over the centuries and so we do not have a complete set covering the 250 years in which the Minster was built.

  7. Stained Glass

    The Minster has one of the best collections of Stained glass in England. There are 128 windows, containing about 2 million individual pieces of glass. The Great East window of York Minster is the single largest area of medieval glass in the world, it is about the same size as a tennis court! A glass painter called John Thornton made it between 1405 and 1408. A copy of the contract has survived and we know that John Thornton was paid £56 in 1408 for three years work. Today we think that his £56 would be worth about £300,000.

    Each window is cleaned and restored about every 125 years. When we clean the windows they must be taken completely apart and each piece of glass cleaned one by one. Then the window must be put back together. To clean every window in York Minster would take about 200 years!

    One of the most famous windows in the Minster is the Rose window. In 1984 there was a serious fire in the South Transept roof. The heat from the fire produced about 40,000 cracks in the glass. The window was removed and the glaziers spent two and a half years repairing the damaged glass. There is a picture of the Rose window on the web site

  8. Does the Minster have any Holy Relics or bodies of Saints?

    Yes, in the crypt of the Minster is a stone coffin that contains the remains of St William of York. William was a 12th Century Archbishop credited with one miracle while alive and many after his death. He died, possibly poisoned, in 1154 and was canonised in 1227. Until the reformation his remains were housed in a large shrine in the Quire. The shrine was dismantled completely at some point between 1538 and 1553. During excavations in the 1960's the coffin was rediscovered and moved to its present location in the crypt. Although revered locally St William of York never achieved the national or international cult status of Thomas Becket.

  9. Fire and York Minster

    The Minster has suffered badly from fire on many different occasions. The following is a list of fires that have occurred in the Minster and their known or probable causes.

    • 1984 South Transept Lightning
    • 1840 Nave Candle left burning in SW tower
    • 1829 Quire & East End Arson (fire started by Jonathan Martin)
    • 1753 South Transept Aisle Hot coals used during re-leading left on roof.
    • 1463 Far East End Cause unknown.
    • 1137 Location unspecified Cause unknown.
    • 1079 Location unspecified Last Viking raid on York
    • 1069 Location unspecified City and Minster burnt by Normans
    • 866 Location unspecified Vikings raid and capture York.
    • 741 Location unspecified Cause unknown

The Minster Shop

  1. How do I add items into my Shopping cart

    Each product within the category pages contains a quantity box and 'Add to Cart' button. Simply select the quantity you require and click the 'Add to Cart' button. 

    You will be taken to the shopping cart where you can either click the Checkout link to buy just those items, or the Continue Shopping button to return to where you came from and keep browsing.

  2. How do I change quantities in the shopping basket?

    When on the shopping cart page, alter the quantities for the products in their respective drop down menus and then click the 'Update Cart' button.