Appendix 6

York’s Medieval Churches Built Using Roman Masonry

All Saints, North Street

1166

Active

St Andrew, Fishergate

Pre conquest

Demolished 14th c

St Andrew, St Andrewgate

1194

Converted use

St Cuthbert, Peasholme Green

Pre conquest

Converted use

St Helen on the Walls, Aldwark

Late 9th c

Demolished 16th c

St Mary Bishophill Jnr

Pre conquest

Active

York Churches with a Roman Connection

St Cuthbert, Peaseholme Green

York’s oldest church after the Minster, close to Layerthorpe Postern on York city walls near Layerthorpe; the east wall of the chancel is built from Roman masonry and is situated at the north-east corner of the fortress where excavations have shown large gaps in the fortress’ perimeter wall. A tile bearing the stamped inscription LEG IX HISP has been found.

St Denys, Walmgate

There is evidence of previous Roman and Viking and Anglo-Saxon buildings on the site: a third-century Roman altar unearthed in 1846 from underneath a church pillar was dedicated to the Roman God Arciaco, erected by the Roman centurion Maternius Vitalis; it is now in the Yorkshire Museum. The inscription reads: ‘To the god Arciaco and to the Divinity of the Emperor, Mat(. . .) Vitalis, centurion, willingly and deservedly fulfilled his vow.’

St Helen, Stonegate

This church is dedicated to St Helen, mother of Constantine the Great. St Helen appears in the stained glass.

St Helen-on-the-Walls, Aldwark

This church was on or near the east corner of York’s Roman walls; it was a small rectangular building, with stone walls that included re-used Roman stones and built in the late ninth or early tenth century. Camden would have us believe that the emperor Constantius I was buried here in 306; so far so good . . . Camden then adds that in the sixteenth century excavations revealed a vault in which a candle from 306 was still burning!

St Martin-cum-Gregory, Micklegate

The 1844 tower plinth is made from stone pillaged from the Roman temple of Mithras.

St Mary, Bishophill Junior

One of the tiles used as the base of a culvert discovered under St Mary Bishophill Junior by Peter Wenham bore the imprint of an animal’s paw over the impression of a child’s sandal which, in turn, showed the stitching on the sole.

St Mary, Bishophill Senior

St Mary has the unenviable distinction of being the last medieval church in York to be demolished. There were Roman walls underneath the church; pieces of Roman tilework can be seen in the tower. Excavations in the vicinity in the 1960s revealed a ninth-century Anglian antler comb together with numerous oyster shells.

The remains of nearly 2,000 fish were collected in a compacted mass making it reasonable to conclude that something in the region of 40,000 fish were present within the excavated area, with many more unexcavated. The fish were small herrings (Clupea herengus) and sprats (Clupea sprattus) imported into York in the late Roman period. All were 4–6 inches long. They were dried and not smoked or salted, possibly rejected as being too small to bother with.

St Mary, Castlegate

The church is eleventh century, but most of what can be seen is fifteenth century; it boasts a dedication stone denoting the church a minster, and records that it was founded by [Ef]rard, Grim and Æse. A recycled Roman column capital and fragments of three column drums have been revealed under the chancel arch.

St Michael, Spurrriergate

St Michael was thought to be more than a match for the devil, so it is no surprise that many churches from the earliest times were dedicated to him on pagan sites. This church of St Michael stands on what was the site of the Roman temple of Hercules.

St Sampson, Church Street

St Sampson is the only church in the country dedicated to St Sampson. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, he was installed by King Arthur’s uncle, Ambrosius Aurelianus, as Archbishop of York after repelling a force of Saxon invaders in AD 466. This Sampson, of course, has nothing to do with the Samson in the Bible – he of the long hair and Delilah. The church was built into the wall of the old Roman fortress.

York Minster

In the excavations under the central tower the remains of the earlier Norman church show it to be built of Roman ashlars, including a centurial stone.

If you find an error or have any questions, please email us at admin@erenow.org. Thank you!