Yorkshire church to be renamed a Minster

The Archbishop of York is coming to Hull on Monday when he will confirm that Holy Trinity Church is to be renamed.

Two years ago Dr John Sentamu pledged that the church, which is undergoing a £4.5m transformation, would become a Minster in 2017, when the city celebrates City of Culture.

The church, described by leading church historian Christopher Wilson, as one of the greatest of the great medieval parish churches in England, is the earliest large brick building in the country. After a short service the Archbishop will be given a short tour along with the Bishop of Hull Alison White. Together they will lay paving stones in Trinity Square.

Towards the end of the sixth Century, Pope Gregory sent Christian missionaries to convert Saxon England.

They built churches as centres for worship and bases from where they would go to preach. Such a centre was known as a monasterium. This word entered the Saxon language as mynster. Today the spelling has changed and the word Minster describes many different types of church building, from small parish churches to large cathedrals such as York.