Holy Trinity, Micklegate

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Holy Trinity, Micklegate
Location of Holy Trinity, Micklegate
Holy Trinity, Micklegate

The medieval parish church of Holy Trinity (Holy Trinity ) on Micklegate Street in York , commonly known as Holy Trinity, Micklegate for short , dates mainly from the 12th and 13th centuries, but dates back to a much older building, possibly before the 11th. Built back to the 17th century. The church originally belonged to the Benedictine Holy Trinity Priory . The building is protected as a Grade I Listed Building .

location

Holy Trinity, Micklegate is located on top of Micklegate Hill , between Trinity Lane and a row of half-timbered houses. The churchyard is a little above street level. Next to the gate to the churchyard is an old block ( Parish Stocks ) in which local criminals could be publicly locked.

The former monastery district comprised the entire area between Micklegate, Trinity Lane, the cemetery of St Mary, Bishophill Junior and a street along the city walls to the southeast. No remains of the monastery complex can be seen above ground.

Building history

Before 1066: Christ Church or Alma Sophia?

Long before the conquest of England by the Normans , a monastery complex with a monastery church ( Christ Church ) is said to have been here. The historian Richard Morris believes that Christ Church in Micklegate was part of a large Anglish monastery complex, which also included the legendary Alma Sophia Church , which according to the English scholar and adviser Charlemagne Alcuin was built in 780. Other historians (e.g. in the Victoria County History of York) are of the opinion, however, that Alma Sophia either never existed and was only an intellectual figure of Alcuin, or that it was a church based on the The site of today's minster was located.

Around 1090: Holy Trinity Priory

The monastery church Christ Church belonged together with the ministers of York , Ripon , Beverley and Durham to a group of five northern English monastery churches that were exempt from taxation. The church and monastery complex mentioned in the Domesday Book were donated by Ralph Paynell to the Benedictine abbey of Marmoutier near Tours in France around 1090 , whose monks then set up a Benedictine monastery ( Holy Trinity Priory ) there. As the archaeological excavations in 1899 showed, shortly after the donation, the first church was replaced by a new building, which consisted of a main house with a transept and a small choir. The massive western pillars of the crossing and the northwest corner of the main house have been preserved from this building to this day. The monastery survived the suppression of all foreign monastery complexes by Henry V in 1414 and remained until 1538.

After the fire of York in 1137

The current main house with its four bays was built after the fire that destroyed large parts of York in 1137 at the end of the 12th to the beginning of the 13th century, although it is not certain that the fire destroyed the church itself . Remains of the northern transept date from the same period. A (second) tower was erected at the northwest end of the floor plan in 1453, and a new chancel between 1459 and 1466. At that time the church was probably also the parish church of a St. Nicholas congregation; she is also referred to as St. Nicholas in some sources at the time . The construction of the north-west tower is said to go back to this St. Nicholas community.

Dissolution of the monastery in 1538

After the Reformation, the Benedictine monastery was dissolved and the church building was left to decay as part of the monastery complex from 1538. The tower over the crossing collapsed in 1552 and destroyed large parts of the nave and the choir, so that in 1600 only a ruin remained, which served as a quarry for repairs to the Ouse Bridge and the city walls.

Reconstruction since 1850

From 1850 the church was gradually rebuilt. The current chancel and sacristy were added in 1886–1887, the gate on the north side and the west facade, which takes up the style elements of the transept of York Minster , were added in 1902–05.

architecture

The church building that is preserved today consists of a five-bay nave . Inside, the original arcades with pointed arches resting on octagonal pillars of exceptional size have been preserved . Three narrow, blind pointed arches over the westernmost arcade on the north side have been preserved from the former triforium . Remains of the earlier northern transept can also be seen. From the preserved high pillars, which formerly supported the central tower above the crossing , it can be seen that the church was originally much higher. The bells of the massive north-west tower, which only slightly overlooks the nave, can be seen behind round-arched openings.

Interior

The present organ dates from 1964/65 and was built by George G. Pave. In contrast, the stone altar and various fragments of decorative architecture on display, as well as a representation of the Trinity, date from the Middle Ages. The baptism was originally from St Savior, Saviourgate and has two dates (1717 and 1794). There are also numerous tombstones and memorial plaques in the church, dating from the 13th century to the 19th century. There is also a plaque in memory of John Burton , deceased in 1771, who served as a model for the figure of Dr. Slop served in Laurence Sternes novel Tristram Shandy .

Stained glass window

There are no preserved medieval windows in Holy Trinity. The decorative glass windows in the chancel and in the nave date from the period between 1850 and 1907, windows whose stained glass was designed by Charles Eamer Kempe , who also created the "RWB Hornby memorial window" in York Minster , are particularly noteworthy .

Todays use

Holy Trinity, Micklegate is still in use today as a parish church. The parishes of the neighboring churches of St John and St Martin were integrated into the parish of Holy Trinity after these two church buildings were taken out of service. For visitors, the interactive exhibition Monks of Micklegate recreates the life and history of the Benedictine monks who once built their monastery on this site.

Individual evidence

  1. Seymour, Brian: York's Other Churches and Chapels . 1992, pp. 45-46
  2. ^ A b c d Wilson, Barbara / Mee, Frances: The Medieval Parish Churches of York. The Pictorial Evidence . York, 1998, pp. 48-55
  3. PM Tillott (editor): Anglo-Scandinavian antiquities . In: A History of the County of York: the City of York . Institute of Historical Research. 1961. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  4. a b c d e f g Pevsner, Nikolaus / Neave, David: Yorkshire: York and the East Riding . 2nd edition, 1995, pp. 162-163
  5. PM Tillott (editor): trinity, micklegate The sites and remains of the religious houses . In: A History of the County of York: the City of York . Institute of Historical Research. 1961. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  6. Seymour, Brian: York's Other Churches and Chapels . 1992, p. 45
  7. Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / holytrinityyork.org
  8. Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 8, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.holytrinityyork.org

literature

  • Nikolaus Pevsner , and Neave, David [1972]: Yorkshire: York and the East Riding , 2nd edition. Edition, Penguin Books, London 1995, ISBN 0-14-071061-2 .
  • Antonia Evans (ed.): The York Book . Blue Bridge, York 2002, ISBN 0-9542749-0-3 .
  • Barbara Wilson, and Mee, Frances: The Medieval Parish Churches of York: the pictorial evidence . York Archaeological Trust , York 1998, ISBN 1-874454-19-1 .
  • Royal Commission on Historic Monuments [1981]: An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of York: Vol V The Central Area . RCHM, England, ISBN 0-11-700892-3 .
  • Royal Commission on Historic Monuments [1972]: An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of York: Vol III South-west of the Ouse . RCHM, England, ISBN 0-11-700466-9 .
  • PM Tillott (editor): Anglo-Scandinavian antiquities . In: A History of the County of York: the City of York . Institute of Historical Research. 1961. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  • Home, Gordon: York Minster & Neighboring Abbeys and Churches. 1936, pp. 151-152
  • Seymour, Brian: York's Other Churches and Chapels . 1992, pp. 45-46

Web links

Commons : Holy Trinity, Micklegate  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 53 ° 57 '23.4 "  N , 1 ° 5' 20.5"  W.