York Minster York, England

Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

YORK

SE6052SW MINSTER YARD 1112-1/27/1 Cathedral Church of St Peter, York 14/06/54 Minster

GV I

Cathedral and Chapter House. Transepts 1220-1255; aisled nave 1291-1360, Chapter House 1275-90. Lady Chapel 1361-71; Choir and integral transepts c1380-1418; east end 1360-c1408; Zouche Chapel and Vestry late C14. West front and towers c1290-c1470; crossing tower 1410-70; Library 1418-20; Choir screen c1460. Rededication 3 July 1472. Floor paved to designs of Lord Burlington 1730-6. Chapter House vault renewed in plaster by John Carr 1798. Restored 1802-28 by William Shout. Fire 1829. Choir roof rebuilt 1829-32 by Sir Robert Smirke. Fire 1840. Nave roof rebuilt 1840-44 by Sydney Smirke. South transept restored 1871 by GE Street. Flying buttresses added to nave 1905-7 by GF Bodley. Extensive restoration 1966-72 by Bernard Fielden. Fire 1984. South transept roof rebuilt 1984-88. MATERIALS: oolitic limestone ashlar from Tadcaster and lead roofs with wood and plaster vaults: Chapter House has octo-pyramidal roof. STYLE: Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular styles. PLAN: aisled nave with western towers; crossing tower and aisled transepts, with chapter house to north and former library to south. Eastern arm consisting of aisled choir and Lady Chapel with integral transepts; Zouche Chapel and vestry to south of choir. EXTERIOR: west end is flanked by 4-stage buttressed towers encircled by tiers of gabled niches. West door in centre in single-arched doorway with gable hood, flanked by 3 rows of niches, some containing restored statuary of 1802-16. West window is of 8 lights with elaborate flowing tracery in the head and gable hood which rises into nave gable: both gables are filled with blind tracery. Nave gable capped by parapet of pierced stepped battlements and central openwork pinnacle. Towers have traceried double doors in arched doorways of 5 orders of filleted shafts with foliate capitals and octagonal bases. Above are 3-light windows with geometrical tracery and gable hoods to second stage; to third stage, 4-light reticulated windows over row of niches. Bell openings are of 3 lights with perpendicular tracery and ogee hoods. Tower parapets are of pierced battlements with corner and intermediate pinnacles. Nave aisles divided into 6 bays by deep buttresses with gargoyles and crocketed pinnacles, each bay having a 3-light window; clerestories have seven 5-light windows, separated by flying buttresses. Windows all have geometrical tracery: nave is capped with blind traceried parapet, clerestory with

parapet of pierced battlements with finials. North transept front, flanked by buttresses, has blind arcading below 5 tall lancets and 5 smaller ascending lancets in the gable. To the west are 2 small aisle lancets and, at north-west corner, buttressed octagonal staircase turret with slit windows and plain parapet. East and west fronts have arcaded lancet windows: in east front a cusped doorway with colonnette jamb shafts with stiffleaf capitals. Windows are arcaded beneath hoodmoulds enriched with dogtooth mouldings. At north-east corner, L-shaped vestibule with loft leads to octagonal chapter house. Vestibule buttresses rise into detached pinnacles, the upper parts tied back with open traceried flyers. Chapter house buttresses rise to cruciform gableted pinnacles with crockets and finials, tied with flyers at two levels, one blind traceried, the other raking. Windows are of 2 lights or 5 lights, with geometrical tracery and deeply set in wall thicknesses. Masons' loft over vestibule has square-headed 2-light windows. South transept front and aisles are flanked by buttressed octagonal turrets with tapered roofs and crocket finials. Shallow vaulted porch in centre has restored traceried door in arched doorway: shafts are filleted and have stiffleaf capitals, inner door arch of continuous stiffleaf mouldings, the outer of dogtooth. Above is a triple gable hood with trefoiled arches and