More meanderings in York in the streets behind Micklegate, called Bishophill, down to the River Ouse at Skeldergate. This is an area usually not explored by the tourist, although if you walk round the City Walls you look down on the neat terrace houses on this lofty hill. Most of York is very flat. The chamfered corner of this cottage is a wonderful architectural feature, very economical use of space, and it invited me to wander along St Martin's Lane. A curious little lane, half way along is a pub called The Ackhorne, which is an imaginative way of spelling Acorn. Had they read Winnie the Pooh and thought of Haycorns? The lane then opens out onto St Martin's Church, which is partly made of stone and partly of brick. It is properly called St Martin cum Gregory Micklegate, as a former parish of St Gregory was added to St Martin's parish. The lane is so narrow that it was difficult to get a shot of the church tower, but it is also built of brick. The church has a very ancient foundation and is Pre-Conquest, the tower was rebuilt in brick in 1677. The door was locked, even though a notice said that the church houses the Stained Glass Centre which was "open to the public at various times throughout the year with Free Entry". I must go back and try again. Right next to the church, on St Martin's Lane, is a property for sale at one and a half million £s ..... such is the desirability of York. There are lots of churches in the area south of Micklegate from Trinity Lane to Priory Street and on Bishophill. This is the church of Holy Trinity, which seems rather squashed with a house butting into the churchyard right up to the path to the church door. This is another very ancient Pre-Conquest Church listed in the Domesday Book. It had been an Abbey of an order of Benedictines and then became a Parish Church. The Abbey site had covered several acres behind the present church and at the Dissolution had been granted to Leonard Beckwith in 1542 and remained as gardens for many years. This lovely painting is titled "Gatehouse Holy Trinity Priory, York" by Walter Harvey Brook [1863 - 1943] and is at the York Art Gallery. It is on the ArtUk website and is in the public domain with credit to York Art Gallery. The gatehouse no longer exists as it was sold in 1850 and later taken down when Priory Street was developed. In the churchyard is a set of stocks! with the explanation Wooden Stocks have probably [aagh, how historians hate the word Probably!] stood on this spot since the 16th century. They were used for the punishment of minor crimes and nuisances until changes in the law in 1858. The original stocks are displayed in the church. These replicas were set up in 2006. But of course, the church was locked so I couldn't check the originals. So onwards round the corner to Priory Street and a fist full of churches and chapels. But first just look at this gorgeous lettering on the gateway to the Rectory. On the left a huge Methodist Chapel, which may now be unused; in the middle and directly, opposite a huge Baptist Church, with a building site in front of it, and at the end of Priory Street a large square building called St Columbas United Reform Church, originally Prebysterian, which had originally had a tower on the corner facing the street. Also on Priory Street are buildings that were a school. Lots of puiblic buildings within a very few yards. This building had me puzzled for some time, there is nothing on the building to say what it was. It is on the corner of Victor Street and Newton Terrace, right against the City Walls. It was Victoria Bar Chapel, of the Primitive Methodist denomination and very important at the turn of the last century. Here is a snippet from the Yorkshire Evening Press for 24th January 1905. Primitive Methodists were a fairly radical lot, and many early Labour M.P.s cut their oratorical speech-making from the cradle of Primitive Methodism. This newspaper report is about Mr Charles Clack who was a Passive Resister and had been sentenced to a week in Wakefield Gaol for non-payment of rates and came to Victoria Bar Chapel to give an account of his experience. I discovered that a forebear in my family had also been involved with the Passive Resistance movement, and was , of course, a staunch Methodist. This movement involved not paying your rates, a bold move indeed, and was linked to a change in the law about Education. When School Boards were introduced in 1870 schools were run by locally elected governors, and it meant that non-conformists could be on the board. The law was changed by the Education Act of 1902 which abolished School Boards and created LEAs, Local Education Authorities, who would gather in the rates and govern schools. Non-conformists, now kicked off the governing bodies, resented paying rates to Anglican schools that taught their brand of religion, and so decided to not pay the rates. The amount of money was usually small, and eventually the movement fizzled out, but Victoria Bar Chapel had a moment in the spot-light. This is from the York Herald 10th July 1890 and dates from about ten years after the Victoria Bar Chapel was built, but they were still struggling to pay off a debt. Many non-conformist denominations had more zeal for building than they had money in the coffers, had to borrow to build their chapels, and then spent years and years repaying the debts. Ten years after it first opened they were holding a Bazaar. Ladies spent hours and hours making things to sell and tea and cakes to encourage people to come. Onwards to Bishophill. There were two ancient parish churches within a few yards of each other, one called St Mary Bishophill Senior, and the other St Mary Bishophill Junior. Very strange. This notice is attached to the railings of the churchyard of St Mary Bishophill Senior, because the church has now gone, demolished in 1963. The notice tells of Saxon burials on the site and that the outline of a simple church dates from the 10th century. Roman masonry was used in the construction and it was enlarged and rebuilt at various times until a complete restoration was undertaken in the 1860s. And just two hundred yards down the road is the Parish Church of St Mary Bishophill Junior. The church door was open, but as I cautiously pushed it I could hear that there was a meeting going on inside so did not explore further. This is also very old and has re-used Roman masonry, but has been much restored. Stunning carving on the porch of Jacob's Well. And a little door in a wall on Trinity Lane is the side entrance into the Rectory. Which brought me back to Micklegate. There is more ... next time.
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AuthorThis is where you can share creativity with me. I believe that everyone has something creative within them, and it is a joy to find ways of being creative. Blogging is NEW to me, so here goes ..... Archives
January 2024
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