Back in York - 5 September 2008
We slept in! It was the first time on our wonderful holiday when we weren’t in a rush to achieve a certain amount in a day so we took it easy for the morning, unpacked everything, sorted through the things we’d acquired and got ourselves into some semblance of order for our return home in three days’ time.
And then we walked to York Minster in the pouring rain – and spent the whole afternoon there! What a wonderful place and how fortunate we were to have a gentleman called Brian Lilly to show us round.
There’s so much to say about the Minster so if you’ve already been there, you may want to by-pass my ramblings. We found our visit there very relaxing and the only restriction on photography was in the Crypt so we were able to take photos of all the beautiful things around us.
York Minster is a wonderful building, even seen in the pouring rain seen here from the west.
It’s the largest mediaeval gothic cathedral in Northern Europe. Not all cathedrals are minsters, not all minsters are cathedrals, but York Minster is both. A cathedral is the mother church of a diocese. It’s where the bishop has his cathedra or ‘seat’, which is only found in a cathedral, and shown here. York Minster is the cathedral church of the Diocese of York. A ‘mynster’ was the Anglo-Saxon name for a missionary church – a church built as a new centre for Christian workshop. The first Minster in York was built as such a centre in 627 A.D.
We started our tour in the Nave. It is in the Decorated Gothic style and is one of the widest Gothic naves in Europe.
The name, nave, derives from the Latin navis, meaning a ‘ship’ and compares the Church to a ship in which the faithful will be saved.
Looking more closely down the nave, we could see the High Altar more closely. The principal alter is at the east end of the quire because Christian churches are orientated towards the east. The altar cloth is a symbol of Christ’s shroud.
Behind the High Altar we could see the 15th century Screen. It’s decorated with statues of fifteen kings of England from William I to John on the left
And from Henry III to Henry VI on the right
When I was at school, we were taught a great rhyme to help us to remember the Kings of England. It came in quite useful here!
Willie, Willie, Harry Ste
(William I, William II, Henry I, Stephen)
Harry, Dick, John, Harry 3
(Henry II, Richard, John, Henry III)
1, 2, 3 Ned, Richard 2
(Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, Richard II)
And I’ve forgotten the rest, but it was helpful to know that the screen ended with Henry VI because the last three must be Henry IV, V and VI. It was a very, very impressive Screen.
Behind the Screen is the Quire, built in the late 14th century in the Perpendicular style. Music has always been an important part of the worship and many of the services in the Minster are sung in the Quire which is arranged so that the choir is part of the congregation. The wooden choir stalls were restored after a fire in 1829.
Suzi and I spent so long in the Minster that we decided to remain there for Friday Evensong. The congregation wasn’t too large (not the 1,500 congregation they normally get for Sunday services at any rate!) and so we were sitting among the choristers. The whole service was sung by the choir alone and it was a real treat to listen to their beautiful voices. There were 12 male choristers (the 18 boys and 18 girls had only just returned from holiday and had not resumed services). Of the 12, 4 were bass voices, 4 were tenors and 4 were counter tenors. The music created by all the voices was really wonderful, but that created by the counter tenors was enough to make me gasp (very quietly of course!). Brian had told us that there were no women in the choir and he didn’t imagine that this would change in the foreseeable future at York (Ripon sometimes use female contralto voices in an emergency we were told). I spoke to one of the choristers after the service and he explained that music has traditionally been written for male voices and the counter tenor voice is able to accomplish a range both higher and lower than the female contralto. In addition, the strength of the male voice enables the sound to travel further and if the choir has to penetrate to the back of a congregation of 1,500, I’m not surprised! In any event, it was a rare treat to be in the right place at the right time and be able to sit through a service.
At the back of the nave, under the beautiful Great West Window
are an unusual group of carved angels. As you know, during the reign of Henry VIII, churches were ravaged and often destroyed. This was the case at York where heads were knocked off many of the statues. Following an exhibition of carving by a local craftsman, he donated his work to the cathedral. The six headless angels on either side of the back of the nave are using semaphore to get their message across. On the left
And the right
Fortunately there was a sheet under the carvings which enables people to work out what the angels are saying
I’ll leave it to you to work out what message they’re sending!
Another beautiful sight was the Rose Window above the entrance door in the south transept. This was created in about 1500 to commemorate the union of the royal houses of York and Lancaster. After the fire in 1984, this window and the roof needed extensive restoration. Unfortunately the photo is a bit blurred - probably because it was so very far above my head.
The Striking clock is situated in the north transept which is also early English Gothic. Two 400 year old oak figures strike the hours and quarters. The clock’s movement dates from 1749.
York Minster contained an enormous number of stained glass windows. We learnt that the lead in each of them only lasts for 100 years. The Great East window dates from 1405-1408 and is currently obscured by scaffolding and tarpaulins.
It contains the world’s largest area of mediaeval stained glass in a single window. It depicts the beginning and end of the world using scenes from the Book of Genesis and the Book of Revelation, the first and last books of the Bible. It’s currently being restored and is expected to cost approximately £40 million. Considering the amount of stained glass in the Minster, one wonders how sufficient funds continue to be raised.