York Minster

York Minster Fire - 20th Anniversary

Published Monday 21st June 2004 by Eleanor Course

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1984 fire, York Minster is hosting an illustrated lecture by Peter Gibson OBE, in aid of York Against Cancer.   On Friday 9th July at 10:00pm Peter Gibson will give a unique presentation entitled, ‘A Tudor Rose Restored’, exploring the restoration of the Rose Window after the 1984 fire.  He will be joined by the Szczepek Ensemble who will sing choral items that reflect the theme of the lecture, including Britten, ‘Hymn to the Virgin’, Howells, ‘A Spotless Rose’, and an anonymous 15th century piece, ‘There is no rose’.

Peter Gibson OBE is a former Secretary and Superintendent of the York Glaziers’ Trust and an established world authority on stained glass.  He is now an independent Stained Glass Consultant who works both in this country and abroad.  He is also in great demand as a lecturer, and has given more than 9,000 lectures all around the world. 

This talk will look back to the events that began on the night of Monday 9 July 1984 when a fire, probably caused by lightning, destroyed the roof of the South Transept. Unbelievably, the fragile 16th century stained glass in the Rose Window survived, although the priceless glass was cracked into 40,000 pieces by the intense heat.  The repair and restoration of this famous window was carried out by the York Glaziers’ Trust under the direction of Peter Gibson, in one of the most challenging tasks in stained glass ever undertaken.   After extensive restoration, the South Transept was rededicated in a service held in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen on 4th November 1988.

The lecture on 9th July will begin at 10:00pm in York Minster and end at approximately 11:30pm, providing the audience with a very rare opportunity to be in the Minster late at night!  The 1984 fire started in the very early hours of the morning, so the audience will get a flavour of what the atmosphere would have been like when that great fire began. 

Tickets cost £7.50 (adults) and £5 (concessions) and are available from: The National Centre for Early Music, telephone 01904 658338 or e-mail boxoffice@ncem.co.uk, and the York Against Cancer Office, telephone 01904 764466 or e-mail office@yorkagainstcancer.org.uk.  All proceeds of this unique lecture will go to York Against Cancer.