York Minster
— — stone holding two centuries of patient cutting.
Not only on a wall.
“A gothic cathedral above the medieval streets of York, raised over the foundations of a Roman fortress. The east window is the largest medieval stained glass in Britain, the size of a tennis court. Locals call it simply the Minster. On a grey afternoon the limestone reads almost white against the cloud; in late light it warms to honey. The choir sings Evensong most days of the week, and the door stays open for anyone who wants to step in out of the weather.
York Minster, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
York Minster is the cathedral of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office in the Church of England, and one of the largest gothic cathedrals in northern Europe. The present building was begun about 1220 and consecrated in 1472, replacing earlier Norman and Anglo-Saxon churches on the same site above the Roman headquarters of Eboracum. The central tower rises about 71 metres above the city, visible from the surrounding Vale of York. The Minster sits inside the medieval walls, a short walk from the river Ouse and Bootham Bar, one of the four gates into the old city.
The Minster is built of magnesian limestone quarried at Tadcaster, about fifteen kilometres south-west of the city, the same pale stone used in the medieval city walls. The Great East Window, completed by John Thornton of Coventry between 1405 and 1408, contains around 311 panels and is the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in Britain. The stonework has been under near-continuous repair since the late nineteenth century. The Minster's own stoneyard still cuts replacement blocks by hand, matching what the medieval masons left and quietly preparing for the next century.
The cathedral is open to visitors most days outside major services. A timed admission ticket covers the nave, the undercroft museum (where the Roman and Norman foundations are visible) and access to the central tower, which is reached by 275 steps and offers a view across the city to the Yorkshire Wolds. Evensong is sung most weekdays by the choir of York Minster School and is free to attend. Photography is generally allowed in the nave. The closest railway station, York, sits about ten minutes' walk to the south-west and is on the East Coast Main Line.