25 September 2014

Short drive today – just an hour and a half from Durham to York. Construction on the A1 slowed us down a bit, but we got to the hotel about 11:30. We were hoping we could leave the car, even if we could not check in. The hotel appears to be made up of 4 townhouses merged. Most of the B&Bs are one townhouse. This place has 30 rooms. And it’s within walking distance of most of the things you would want to do in York. J

We walked to the train station to pick up our tickets for tomorrow and grabbed lunch. Michael wanted to see the railroad museum and the Minster. I wanted to walk the walls and do more exploring so we split up after lunch.

I got as far as the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey – another victim of Henry VIII – when I realized my idea of traveling light was not working. I had left my bag with my spare camera battery at the hotel, and the camera was saying “battery empty”. Rats!! Fortunately, I was only a few blocks from the hotel and they had a spare key. Phew.

Back to the Abbey for a few more pics and off on Rick Steves’ self-guided tour of York. The gardens at the Museum of Yorkshire are very nice, even at this time of year. Then off to Exhibition Square, which is being renovated. Up on the wall for a walk around to the Monk Bar and the old part of the city. There is a sculptor working in the gardens behind a hotel. He’s carving 3 figures from a Midsummer Night’s Dream on the trunk of a tree that had to be cut down.

Once I am down off the wall I walk around to the hotel so I can get a closer look. Nice work. I chat with his wife for a bit, then move on past the Dutch House (first all-brick building in town) and the treasurer’s house to the back of the Minster. A guide sees me taking pictures and asks if I speak English. I get a few tidbits about the Chapter House and the new statue of St. Peter before he lets me go.

St Mary's Abbey

Minster from the wall

Walking the Wall

Monk Bar (gate)

Tree sculpture - that's the sculptor's elbow on the left

Minster from behind the chapter house (right)

They are doing a major rework on the eastern wall of the Minster. It was bulging and so they took all the glass out and are rebuilding that part of the wall. All the stonework is still done by hand and you can watch the carvers at work next to the Minster. Inside there is an exhibit showing how they are renovating the stained glass in the east windows. You almost never get to see the glass up close – it’s 50’ up in the air. But as they finish the rehab, they are displaying some of the panels inside the church. They are cleaning and re-leading, and replacing some of the leading with epoxy to improve the look. The results are amazing.

Stone masons at work

South transept and central tower

Add caption

South transept - English Gothic style

Since Michael is off looking at trains, I decide to join a free tour. These guys really enjoy sharing what they know. And they know a lot. The Minster is built on the remains of a Roman fort – those Romans again. They are not sure what happened with the Anglo-Saxons, but the Normans built a cathedral and then it just kept being expanded over a period of 250 years. It is the largest display of medieval stained glass in England. The earliest panels date to the Norman cathedral of the 11^th century. Oh, and the Vikings invaded here too. 

The north transept has a set of windows known as the Five Sisters – the name appears to be a corruption of Cistercians, a monastic order that paid for the windows. They did not believe in representational art so the patterns are repeats of a floral motif and have relatively little color compared to the other windows. At some point in the late 19^th or early 20^th century, someone decided that the windows let in too much light and the space needed to be darker to invoke a more religious feeling. So they splattered the glass with gray paint!! How do you clean that off 126,000 pieces of glass??

"Five sisters"

Close up of 5 sisters with a "patch" of Norman glass (bottom colored panel)

The problem with building on the ruins of other structures is the lack of a firm foundation. In 1967 they noticed the central tower was swaying and major cracks were developing. Excavations revealed the lack of a foundation – the building was sinking. They brought in engineers and have now stabilized the situation (concrete and huge bolts). And the cool thing is, you can go down to the “undercroft” and see the original Roman un-foundationsand how they have engineered the repairs. There are also examples of archaeological items they found while making the repairs.

There have been 3 major fires in the Minster, the most recent in 1984 when the south transept was struck by lightening. The roofs are made of wood.

Ceiling the in nave

Nave towards the Choir

Choir screen - yes, that is all stonework

West wall - note the heart shape in the window. 

St William - c. 1317 glass

Straight up the central tower. 

Taking a tour does not leave me a lot of time to explore, but I head off to the Shambles – a narrow lane of shops dating to Medieval times. And I find a wool shop! (English for yarn store). And a chocolate shop! (York is apparently famous for chocolate). After making a few purchases, I head back to the hotel.  

Shambles

We have another grand dinner at the hotel. I might get a couple of hours tomorrow to visit the Castle and Clifford’s Tower before we take the train to London.