I have just this afternoon come back from a week long trip to York. While I was there I visited the Minster, but what I wanted to know is when was it built and how long did it take?

TabbyTom

According to the Blue Guide to England, the oldest part of the present Minster is the south transept, built about 1220 – 1240 when Walter de Grey was archbishop. The north transept is mid-13th century: the nave was begun in 1291 and finished about 1345. The choir is late 14th century and the western towers were in place by 1474. The building was completed when the central tower was finished about 1480: so the building spanned about 250 years. The present building replaced an earlier Norman church of the 11th and 12th centuries, which in turn replaced a building destroyed in the troubles following the Norman conquest. Sep 02 05, 11:57 AM

bloomsby

In fact, most of the medieval English cathedrals were built over a very long period of time. Many were started by the Normans and not completed till well after 1400. Norwich Cathedral is a good example of this. Some cathedrals in Continental Europe took even longer to complete. In the case of Cologne Cathdedral, for example, there was a long period when the project was, as it were abandoned. In the 17th and 18th centuries it a road went through the site of the present cathedral, separating what were in effect two church buildings. St. Giles' Cathedral in Prague, within the precincts of the "Hrad" (Prague Castle) was started in the high Middle Ages and completed in 1929. That may be a record. Sep 02 05, 3:33 PM

lanfranco

Remains of the Norman Minster at York can be found in the crypt: http://www.yorkminster.org/ Sep 02 05, 3:41 PM