Nearest Online Tour Guide page: Minster Yard
York Minster dominates the city of York, both figuratively and literally. The huge Gothic cathedral towers over the rest of the city and, as the seat of the Archbishop of York, is the prime reason for York’s emergence as the second city of England during the middle ages.
York Minster's Gothic towers and Great West Window
Why is York Minster important?
The Province of York is second only to Canterbury in the hierarchy of the Church of England – and that secondary status was disputed up until Norman times. The City of York was thus England’s second city for much of the middle ages, a fact that is reflected in the Minster’s magnificence.
How big is the Minster?
Like most Christian churches of its era, the Minster is laid out like a cross, with its 158-metre (520-foot) length pointing to Jerusalem. An Octagonal Chapter House adjoins the North Transept. Its three towers are 60 metres (200 feet) high: two of them are at the west entrance to the cathedral, and the third, at the centre, can be climbed by those who aren’t put off by its 200-odd steps (it’s well worth it for the view – one which has a small but notable place in scientific history: see our page on William Smith).
The Minster was built in limestone quarried from nearby Tadcaster and is the one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in Northern Europe (it’s thirteen metres longer than Cologne Cathedral, usually cited as the largest Gothic cathedral north of the Alps).
What to see in York Minster
York Minster contains fine examples of stained glass, most notably:
- the Great West Window, known as the Heart of Yorkshire for the stone heart shape around which the glass is worked
- the Great East Window, the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world
- the Rose Window in the South Transept, which commemorates the union of the feuding houses of York and Lancaster when Henry Tudor (Henry VII) married Elizabeth of York in 1486
- the Five Sisters in the North Transept, which are unusual for being devoid of the narrative or symbolic images usually found in medieval stained glass, given their large size
Another most notable decoration inside the Minster is the choir screen, under the central tower, which contains statues of all the Kings of England from William the Conqueror to Henry VI.
What’s so great about the Minster?
In contrast to many great big churches, and a lot of historical buildings in general, the Minster is surprisingly accessible to the public. You can walk up to the building and touch it; you can picnic on its lawns round the back (highly recommended on a sunny day in contrast to the overcrowded Museum Gardens).
And it’s still a work in progress: you may gaze at its Perpendicular Gothic east end and think “they don’t make things like that any more,” but you’d be wrong. There’s a stonemasons round the back (next door to the Cross Keys pub) where they still carve out gargoyles, statues and buttresses with as much skill (or more) as any medieval masons.
York Minster in film
The Minster stood in for Westminster Abbey in the 1998 film Elizabeth’s coronation scene.
York Minster entrance fees and opening times
York Minster is open daily from 7.00am for early services and from 9.00am for sightseeing (9.30am November-March). Last entry is 5pm for sightseeing, and the Minster usually closes at 6.30pm.
People who want to visit York Minster for sightseeing must pay a £6.00 entrance fee (over-60s pay £5; children under 16 are free; entrance charges correct December 2009). Visitors wishing to pray or light a candle do not need to pay; speak to a member of Minster staff on arrival.
There is no sightseeing before 12.00 noon on Sundays or on the holy days of Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Where to get the best view of York Minster
For the best view of York Minster, go to the top floor of Marks & Spencers on Parliament Street and head for the Menswear section.
You’ll find a huge picture window which looks over the rooftops of York across to the south façade of the Minster. It’s perfect for photographers, especially if you’ve got a zoom lens and can capture the detail of the South Transept’s beautiful Rose Window.
In a pleasing nod to the Minster’s own structure, you’ll see that when M&S was renovated in the late 1990s the architects designed this specific window in a triangle, deliberately matching the Gothic peak of the Minster’s South Transept opposite.
According to local legend the Minster owes its dominance of the York skyline to a law prohibiting any building to be erected higher than the roof of its nave, and indeed the 1967 Esher Report, which looked into the conservation and development of York, made such a recommendation. But it isn’t actually a law – the Park Inn Hotel on North Street would have been knocked down years ago if it was – and historian Patrick Nuttgens
Read more about the Minster on our History of York Minster page.
Continue your York tour
Go north-west to High Petergate towards Bootham Bar, Exhibition Square and the City Art Gallery
Go east down Minster Yard and Deangate towards St Williams College and the Treasurer’s House
Go south-east to Low Petergate towards St Michael-le-Belfry church and the birthplace of Guy Fawkes
Go south-west to Duncombe Place towards Lendal Bridge, the Assembly Rooms, York’s Theatre Royal, the rail station and St Wilfrid’s Catholic Church