offerings, with the result that the Minster authorities were encouraged to begin the erection of a new cathedral. They began with the renewal of the transepts and then proceeded with the erection of the nave and chapter house, and of the Lady Chapel and choir.
York Minster impresses the beholder by its massiveness, and although it consists of buildings of various dates, it gives an impression of unity of design. The earliest portions are the transepts, and there is a great contrast in the composition of the two gable ends. That of the northern from its simplicity seems the earlier. The central part consists of an arcade, above which are five long lancets known as “the Five Sisters”; over are a stringcourse and seven lancets rising to the slope of the gable. The southern transept has a portal set between arcading and lancets, above which is a central window of two lights with a lancet on either side, whilst the gable is filled with a large and beautiful rose window.
The western front is a charming architectural composition. The nave gable-end, with entrance and eight-light window with its flowing tracery, is set between two buttressed and uniformly pinnacled towers, which terminate the aisle ends. The entrance has a moulded arch enriched with delicate sculpture in which the history of Adam and Eve and their sons Cain and Abel is traced. Above the entrance is the figure of an archbishop seated, holding a model of the western front in his hands, and on either side are mailed figures with shields of a Percy and a Vavasour, having blocks of wood and stone which signify the nature of their gifts to the building. The aisles are divided into seven bays by buttresses which have a canopied niche with figure and lofty pinnacles and which support the flying buttresses to the nave roof, giving an effect to the whole composition of great stability and endurance. The choir and Lady Chapel are a continuation of the nave design. They differ only in detail and lack the flying buttresses. The clerestory passage along the Lady Chapel is outside the windows. The walk is enclosed by an open screen, and is separated from the choir clerestory by a small transept with a lofty window. The eastern end contains in the centre a window of nine lights and above a figure of Archbishop Thoresby, holding a model of the Minster. Below the sill are represented busts of Christ and the Apostles, a king, an archbishop, and two princes.
On the northern side is the octagonal chapter house with its five-light windows between angle buttresses. A parapet surrounds the pyramidical roof; a gargoyle depicts a bishop, in a boat, giving his benediction. The vestibule was built after the chapter house, to connect it with the church. The whole of the northern elevation is well seen from the Deanery Gardens. It is difficult to realize that the whole was in ruins in the first half of the last century. The choir was fired by a lunatic in 1829, and the nave was destroyed by fire in 1840 owing to the carelessness of a workman. The central tower, fortunately, proved a barrier to the flames on both occasions by preventing their spreading to the other part of the building.
The Minster is generally entered by the south transept. Spaciousness is the leading feature within. The great dimensions of the transepts with the lofty lantern in the centre and the “Five Sisters” at the northern end, filled in with ancient brownish-green glass, combine to make this the finest internal view. The resemblance of the glass to tapestry has given rise to a tradition that five maiden sisters worked the design in tapestry. This pretty legend forms the subject of a story related by Dickens in Nicholas Nickleby.
The view westward along the nave is a fine one. The eight bays are emphasized by the vaulting shafts which rise directly from the floor, whilst the end is filled with arcading in which is set the entrance and thereover an eight-light window with beautiful flowing tracery. The beauty of the nave owes much to the fourteenth-century glass which fills the aisle and clerestory windows. A most brilliant scene is produced when the sun shines through these windows. The view from the western end embraces the whole length of the Minster: in the centre the tower arches support the lantern and beyond stretches the long vaulted roof over the organ and altar-screen to the east end with its large magnificent window. The view in the choir looking eastward with the canopied stalls, the open traceried altar-screen, backed by the great window, which rises to the lofty vaulting, is one of striking beauty.
The chapter house is octagonal and without a single column to support the vaulting. Each bay, excepting the entrance, consists of six canopied stalls under a lofty window. The glass in the tracery is adorned with shields bearing the arms of King Edward I and of members of his Court. The windows have alternately diapered and subject panels. The subjects are taken from the Bible or from the lives of saints. The carving on the stalls is exquisite and consists of figures, heads, and foliage. The latter is treated “naturally”, as is the diaper on the glass. The ironwork on the doors consists of scrolls cut into leafage and flowers and finished at the top in zoomorphic figures. A Latin verse painted on the wall testifies “As the rose is the flower of flowers, so is this the house of houses”.
There are thirty canons, each having a seat in the choir and chapter house. The dignitaries are the dean, precentor, sub-dean, chancellor, succentor, and the four residentiary canons. Collectively they are known as “The Dean and Chapter of York”. Formerly each canon was provided with an assistant priest, termed a vicar-choral. The original number of thirty-six vicars-choral has been reduced to five. There was also a large number of chantry priests.
The choir entrance is set in the screen, amidst figures of the kings of England from William I to Henry VI. The western end of the choir is occupied by canopied stalls, terminated on the north side by the pulpit, and on the south side by the cathedra of the Archbishop. The high altar formerly stood a bay westward from the glazed screen, being set between the choir transept windows, which depict events in the lives of the two great northern saints, Cuthbert and William. Behind the high altar was a large painted and gilded reredos, with a door at each side, opening to the sacristy, where the bones of St. William were preserved in a portable shrine. The head of the saint was kept in a reliquary of silver gilt covered with jewels.
The Lady Chapel consists of the four eastern bays. Over the altar is the great window—the largest one in the world containing its original glazing. The contract for the glazing is dated 10 December, 1405, and is made between the Dean and Chapter and John Thornton of Coventry, who undertook to portray with his own hand the histories, images, and other things to be painted on it, and to provide glass, lead, and workmen at the expense of the Chapter and to finish it within three years. Thornton was to receive for every week wherein he should work in his art four shillings and each year five pounds, and after the work was completed ten pounds as a reward. The window depicts scenes from the Creation to the death of Absalom and from the Revelation of St. John.