CATHEDRALS
story of salvation and inspiring visitors along the way. Take in the glorious Kings’ Screen and stern row of English monarchs before stepping through to the quire where choristers’ voices sing out to the heavens above. Finally, gaze up at the Great East Window, which depicts both the Creation and the Apocalypse. The pointed and lancet windows of York Minster comprise over half of England’s medieval stained glass, and as dusk falls the light shines out through the plate tracery surrounding the Heart of Yorkshire window through the West Door. Couples who kiss under the Heart of Yorkshire, locals say, will stay together for ever. Gothic architecture arrived in England in the late 12th century, following the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170. As Becket was preparing for vespers, four of King Henry II’s knights burst through the cloister door and stabbed him to death with their swords. Canterbury quickly became a place of pilgrimage as followers flocked to Becket’s tomb, and many miracles were reported. Two years after his murder, Becket was canonised. When fire destroyed the quire and apse four years later, renowned architect William of Sens travelled from France to rebuild the quire in Gothic fashion, its stone vaults transporting visitors’ gaze to breathtaking heights. Today the fan vaulting around the crossing tower at Bell Harry (which came later) is simply spectacular. Sadly, William of Sens was badly injured when he fell from altar scaffolding, and died in 1180. But his work
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PHOTOS: © CHAPTER OF YORK/TERENCE WAELAND/ALAMY
The Heart of Yorkshire window is said to bring good luck to lovers Right: York Minster’s Kings’ Screen