Location York

THE Gothic monuments in York are mainly to be found in the Minster, which contains several examples. With the exception of that of Prince William of Hatfield, and the cadaver of Thomas Haxey, they commemorate Archbishops. There is a box tomb in the Parish Church of St. John to Sir Richard Yorke, who was Lord Mayor in 1469 and 1482, and another in St. Mary's, Castlegate; neither has effigies

The thirteenth century gave us three in Purbeck marble, so popular at this time; they were placed in the transepts, with their Purbeck marble shafts attached to the columns. That to Archbishop Bovill (Below left) is a simple box tomb, but Archbishop Gray's monument (Below right) is a very fine example of a canopy tomb, with a marble effigy of the Archbishop, who died in 1255.

Gardner calls it " the finest of these mid-century ecclesiastics of this period." Unfortunately, the effigy is now obscured by the cast-iron railing which surrounds it, erected at a later date, and prevents it being photographed. The illustration is taken from a drawing made by Ed. Blore, and published in Britton's History of York Cathedral Church. The finials are in plaster by an Italian sculptor, Bernasconi, and were added with the iron railing by Archbishop Markham.

We are told that these marble effigies are not portraits; an archbishop with robes, a knight with the armour of the period, were made on mass-production methods -many were sent from the quarries, some were carved locally.

Mr. W. M. I'Anson, in his account of the mediaeval Military Effigies of Yorkshire, states that the earliest York atelier was apparently opened about 1265, possibly as an offshoot from Lincoln. A number of effigies, turned out by the York craftsmen between 1310 and 1340, are in several churches in Yorkshire, although only two are in York itself, in the museum of the Philosophical Society.

Several of them came from what he calls the Cheyne Atelier, which, however, was not the only one in York working at the time.

A third tomb in the transept, of Archbishop Godfrey de Ludham, who died in 1264, consists of a simple slab of Purbeck marble laid on the floor.

The first half of the fourteenth century gave us the tombs in the Decorated style of Archbishop Greenfield, who died in 1314, and Prince William of Hatfield. The Archbishop's is a canopied tomb (left); there is no effigy, the Archbishop being
represented by a brass, part of which, unfortunately, has been stolen: the face, however, remains. The Prince's effigy is in alabaster (Below): it was moved to its present position. Horace Walpole, writing to Mason, said:

" Your church of York enjoys an estate given by Queen Philippa on the burial of her son William of Hatfield, and yet you have the conscience to let the poor Prince's tomb be tossed about without a yard of earth to call its own."

To which Mason replied:

" I have found an empty Gothic shrine in a conspicuous part of the Minster, which on measurement will exactly fit, in which I mean to place him (the Dean willing) at my next residence. But I must do it at my own expense for, though we have received 5 marks a year ever since the Reformation for not praying for the said William's soul, I do not think we shall be grateful enough for his alabaster body to place him in the said shrine by expense of Chapter. However, I think I can achieve this work for four or five guineas, and if you go halves with me, and write an inscription in right good classical Gotho Latin, you shall be heartily welcome." The Prince died in 1346.

The shrine, which is a fine piece of Decorated work, is a tall one extending towards the roof. Unfortunately, it is in rather a dark corner, but there is a good illustration of it in Britton's History, and one of the Prince in Stothard's Monumental Effigies of Great Britain. The name of the artist of mediaeval work is rarely known, but Mr. W. R. Lethaby thinks there is no doubt that the sculptor was John Orchard. In his book on Westminster Abbey and the King's Craftsmen, he writes: " At this time John Orchard, Lattenor, was paid twenty shillings for two images of alabaster placed upon a small marble tomb of the infant son and daughter of the Queen (Philippa). This, it is well known, must refer to the tomb of William of Windsor and Blanche in St. Edmund's Chapel. There can be no doubt that these little figures were wrought by the same hand which did the similar tomb in York Cathedral; both are probably Nottingham work."

The table and box tombs of the second half of the century are more interesting because of the men they represent than for the sculpture itself. The tomb in the Nave of late Perpendicular design ( Below ) was opened in 1862 and from its contents Browne thought the tomb contained the translated remains of Archbishop Thoresby-but Mr. Chancellor Harrison suggests it may have been that of Dean Brian Higden, who died in 1539.

The simplicity of the memorial to Archbishop Scrope (Below) was probably due to the fact of his untimely end in 1407; it was damaged in the fire, and has been much restored.

The Perpendicular style is represented by the two fine memorials to Archbishop Bowett, who died in 1423 ( Below left), and Archbishop Savage, who died in 1507 ( Below Right)-the former suffered to a certain extent in the fire. Glutton Brock called it "one of the finest Perpendicular monuments in the country." Unlike many of the later ones, it forms a harmonious design in the Gothic arch in which it is placed.

The tomb of Archbishop Savage was "restored" in 1813; it contains a fine effigy of the Archbishop in freestone, and was erected by his chaplain, Thomas Dalby.

The remaining one of this period is a box tomb of Savage's predecessor- Archbishop Rotherham, d. 1501, which has been moved to the North Transept.