History
Howden Minster was owned by monks from Peterborough Abbey in Saxon times, but in 1080 it was gifted to William of Calais (Bishop of Durham). Although dependent on Durham, the minster was in the Diocese of York. Rebuilding the Norman church in the Early English style seems to have been begun in 1228. It became a Collegiate Church in 1267. Rebuilding work was completed in the Decorated style around 1340. A small octagonal Chapter House was built after 1388, the last of its kind to be built in England. The church survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries as it was not a monastery, but fell victim to the Dissolution of Collegiate Churches and Chantries in 1548.
Although the minster was not destroyed in the Dissolution, the choir or chancel was allowed to fall into ruin, and only the nave was used for services. The roof eventually collapsed in 1696, and the chapter house roof collapsed in 1750. The ruins are now in the guardianship of English Heritage, preserved by the Department of the Environment, and are in the condition of a 'safe ruin'. The chapter house received a new roof in 1984. The ruins can only be seen from the outside, as they are still part of the current minster church.
Read more about this topic: Howden Minster
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“If you look at history you’ll find that no state has been so plagued by its rulers as when power has fallen into the hands of some dabbler in philosophy or literary addict.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)
“Gossip is charming! History is merely gossip. But scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“It is the true office of history to represent the events themselves, together with the counsels, and to leave the observations and conclusions thereupon to the liberty and faculty of every man’s judgement.”
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626)