YORK. 



143 



York Cathedral or Minster. York was made 

 the see of a bishop under Paulinus, who converted 

 the Northumbrians to Christianity in 627 ; but this 

 prelate was obliged to abandon his station, in con- 

 sequence of the wars with the Britons and Mer- 

 cians, which proved fatal to his royal patron Edwin. 

 The see, however, was ere long restored ; and 

 while it was held by the famous Wilfred, disputes 

 for the dignity of primate of the whole kingdom, 

 occasioned a quarrel with Theodore, archbishop of 

 Canterbury, and Wilfred was deprived of his epis- 

 copal authority, which however, he afterwards re- 

 covered. The contest was continued by successive 

 archbishops of York and Canterbury, but it was 

 at length terminated in favour of the latter, who 

 acquired the title of primate of All England, while 

 tke archbishop of York was permitted to assume 

 the title of primate of England. This metropoli- 

 tan is always lord high almoner to the king, and 

 ranks above all dukes not of the royal family, and 

 all the great officers of state except the lord chan- 

 cellor. The archiepiscopal establishment is com- 

 posed of the archbishop, the dean, and the sub- 

 dean, four archdeacons, a chancellor, a precentor, a 

 succentor, a registrar, four canons residentiary, 

 twenty-four prebendaries, a chancellor of the 

 diocese, and various inferior officers ; all which, 

 with the chancellorship of the diocese and regis- 

 trary, are in the patronage of the archbishop. The 

 prebends are likewise in the same patronage; and 

 on a vacancy in the chapter, the dean appoints a 

 residentiary from among the prebendaries of the 

 cathedral. The cathedral church, a most magni- 

 ficent structure, dedicated to St Peter, was erected 

 principally in the thirteenth and fourteenth centu- 

 ries. The building having been destroyed by fire 

 in the reign of king Stephen, it was partly re- 

 erected by archbishop Roger, about 1 170 ; but the 

 principal part of the existing structure was built in 

 the reign of Edward I., the nave being begun at that 

 period, and it was finished about 1330, by archbishop 

 Melton, who also erected the west front and angular 

 towers. Archbishop Thoresby rebuilt the choir. 

 He commenced this great work in 1375 ; but it is 

 not perfectly certain when it was finished, some 

 parts of the choir exhibiting the arms of archbishops 

 Scrope and Bowet, Thorseby's successors, the lat- 

 ter of whom succeeded to the see in 1405. Mean- 

 while, it had also been resolved to take down the 

 central steeple erected by John le Romayne ; and 

 in its place the present lantern tower was begun to 

 be built in 1370. The whole was probably finished 

 and the Minster brought to the state in which we 

 now see it, about 1410 or 1412. 



From this account it appears that the successive 

 parts of the building, in the order of their antiquity, 

 are the south transept, the north transept, the nave, 

 the central tower, and, lastly, the choir, proceeding 

 from the west end to the east. Reviewed in this 

 order, the cathedral of York forms a most interest- 

 ing and instructive architectural study. It is per- 

 haps the most perfect example to be any where found 

 of the history and progress of the Gothic style during 

 the period of not much less than two centuries, which 

 its construction occupied. In this place we can only 

 remark generally, that a continued and regular im- 

 provement in grace and lightness of form, and a 

 more and more lavish profusion of minute and ela- 

 borate ornament, will be found to form the leading 

 characteristics of that progress in England, during 

 the whole of the period in question. 



York Minster, as may be understood from what 



has been already stated, is built in the form of a 

 cross, the longer bar forming the choir and nave of 

 the church, lying, as usual, east and west, and the 

 shorter, called the transept, north and south. Over 

 the centre of the building, supported on four mas- 

 sive pillars, rises a grand tower to the height of 

 213 feet from the floor. This is said to be only 

 a portion of the altitude originally designed by 

 the architect, who intended to surmount this 

 stone erection by a steeple of wood covered with 

 lead, had he not been deterred by a fear lest the 

 foundation should prove insufficient to sustain so 

 great a weight. Over the west end of the building 

 are two other towers or steeples rising to the height 

 of 196 feet. The whole length of the building, 

 from east to west is 524 feet, and that of the tran- 

 sept, from north to south, 222. The length of the 

 choir is 157 feet, and its breadth 46^ ; in addition 

 to which the east end of the choir contains a cha- 

 pel behind the altar dedicated to the Virgin, mak- 

 ing an entire length of 222 feet. The length of the 

 nave is 261 feet; its breadth (including the aisles), 

 109 ; and its height, 99. These measurements (with 

 the exception of the height of the towers at the 

 west end, which is not given in that work) are taken 

 from the last edition of Dugdale's Monasticon An- 

 glicanum, by Caley, Ellis, and Bandinel, in six vols. 

 folio, London, 1830. 



York Minster has not the advantage of standing 

 upon a height ; yet its enormous mass makes it a 

 conspicuous object from a great distance, and no- 

 thing can be grander or more imposing than the as- 

 pect which its lofty buttresses and grey towers 

 present as they are seen rising over the surrounding 

 houses of the city, which look like the structures 

 of a more pigmy generation beneath the gigantic 

 and venerable pile. Excepting on the north side 

 where an open space of considerable extent has 

 been formed by clearing away the old archiepisco- 

 pal palace, it is every where closely encompassed by 

 other buildings, several of which approach within a 

 few yards of its walls. There is scarcely, there- 

 fore a spot from which any one of its fronts can be 

 completely or satisfactorily seen ; except from a 

 distance, where, of course, only the upper parts of 

 the building are visible. The formation of a large 

 open square around the noble old edifice, so that 

 the whole might be viewed as perfectly as the north 

 side, would exhibit the gigantic pile in all its sur- 

 passing magnificence. For the present the grandeur 

 of the Minster must be sought for principally in its 

 interior. The effect of the whole prolonged and 

 lofty extent, as seen on entering from the great 

 west door, is perhaps as sublime as any ever pro- 

 duced by architecture. Under favourable circum- 

 stances, such as the rich illumination of a setting sun, 

 the impressions of awe, and veneration, and we may 

 add delight, produced upon the mind by the gran- 

 deur and beauty of this wonderful building, are per- 

 haps superior in intensity to the effects of any other 

 work of man's hands. We doubt whether the 

 finest Grecian temple could ever so touch the hid- 

 den springs of enthusiasm in our nature. The choir 

 is divided from the nave by a stone screen ; but this 

 ornamental partition is so low as not to intercept the 

 view of the portion of the roof beyond, nor "the 

 dim religious light " streaming from the magnificent 

 " storied window " that fills the east end of the 

 building. This screen and the great east window 

 are two of the proudest ornaments of the cathe- 

 dral. The former is a work in the very richest 

 style of ornamental carving ; and fortunately it ia 



