— 419 — 



through its sounding aisle, aided by these notes and 

 sketches. 



York Minster. — Antiquaries like to trace the ori- 

 gin of this splendid Cathedral to the little wooden 

 oratory, which on Easter Sunday, 12th April 627, stood 

 on the spot, were now stands the Minster, and in which 

 oratory was baptized by Paulinus, Edwin, King of 

 Northumbria. Shortly after Edwin commenced to build 

 a larger church of stone, dedicated to St. Peter. Edwin's 

 stone church was subsequently destroyed. In 636, 

 Oswald, restored the Minster. In 669, Archbishop 

 Wilfred repaired this fine Temple of worship, covered 

 the roof with lead and put glass in the window's. In 

 741, the Minster was nearly burnt to the ground. In 

 769, Albert, archbishop of York, assisted by the learned 

 Alcuin, rebuilt the cathedral in the finest style of Saxon 

 architecture. It was again destroyed by fire at the 

 time of the Norman conquest, and rebuilt on a larger 

 scale in the Norman style by Archbishop Thomas. In 

 1137, fire again played havoc with the church ; it was 

 restored in 1171, by Archbishop Eoger ; such is a brief 

 glance at its early history. The present structure dates 

 from 1215, and is due to archbishop Walter-de-Grey, 

 eager to build a cathedral on a grand style : the chief 

 parts of the Minster date, as follows : 



The Nave and West Front 1291—1345 



" Western Towers 1430—1470 



" Central Tower 1400—1420 



" North Transept 1228—1240 



" South. " 12.30—1256 



" Chapter House 1300—1330 



" Choir Screen 1475—1485 



1373—14)0 



" Lady Chapel or Presbytery. 1363—1473 



" Crypt (the two portions)... 1070—1170 



