Church ruins offer elaborate window to the past

The elaborately decorated ruins of part of a 14th-century church just yards from the still-operational Howden Minster offer a striking window into the past for worshippers and visitors to contemplate.
PIC: Gary LongbottomPIC: Gary Longbottom
PIC: Gary Longbottom

Operated by English Heritage, the story of the remains of the chancel and chapter house provides an insight into the complex history of religion in England down the centuries.

Religious worship had taken place at the site since Anglo-Saxon times but in the 1270s the building of a new church began; work that was only fully completed in the late 15th century when the minster’s great landmark tower was finished.

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While the collegiate church – serving the parishes of Howden, Barnby, Thorpe, Skelton, Saltmarsh and Skipwith – survived Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, it was suppressed by Edward VI in 1550; leading to both the church and the town of Howden falling into decline as a result.

A spokesman for English Heritage says: “The income
of the church passed to the Crown and the maintenance of the building became the responsibility of the parishioners, who were obliged to abandon the choir through lack of funds for maintenance.”

In 1696, the great vaulted roof of the choir collapsed. The roof of the chapterhouse eventually followed, falling down in 1750.

It took more than two centuries for the site’s fortunes to finally turn a corner.

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In 1971 the ruined choir and chapterhouse were taken into guardianship. The latter was carefully repaired and reroofed in 1984.

Following the repair work 34 years ago, the site can now be viewed from the outside. Visitors are able to see how the ruined choir of the church was later used as graveyard, while also viewing the elaborate carved stone panels above the stone benches in the chapterhouse where the canons sat for meetings.

At the doorway between the choir and the chapterhouse is a tiny chapel, believed to have been founded in the early 15th century.

Technical information: Nikon D3s camera, 24-70mm lens at 24mm with an exposure of 1/250th sec at f8 with an ISO of 800