All Saints Church, North Street, York

The first reference to All Saints Church on North Street, dates from 1089, when the patronage was granted to the Benedictine Priory of the Holy Trinity, near Micklegate in York. The church was expanded at the end of the 12th Century due to the growth in population. The chancel was rebuilt in the 13th Century and the east end was rebuilt in the 14th Century. The tower and spire were erected at the end of the 14th Century, when the nave was also extended. 

There may have been as many as eight chantry chapels established, with the express purpose of saying mass for the deceased souls who founded them. The altars would be built by the founder and all necessary plate and vestments would be paid for by the same benefactor. In the early 15th Century there were three chantry priests employed here, with the purpose of saying daily mass for the souls of those benefactors and their families.

In the 1420’s and 1430’s, a woman named Emma lived in the anchorhold at the church. This was a small house attached to the church building with a squint built into it, so that she could view the altar from her home. This was allowed because Emma had visions of the Virgin, who she said had visited her seven times in 1421 alone. She was said to have been informed about the impending death of Henry V and the coronation of his son Henry VI, as the King of France. She was taken seriously by the church and also by Richard Beauchamp, who visited her from time to time. She told him he would serve as Protector of the young king until he came of age. 

In the 15th Century the ceiling was added in the chancel and the chancel aisles were decorated with painted and gilded angels. The pulpit dates from 1675 and there are many medieval grave markers in the floor, as well as brasses, but it is the windows that make this church astonishing.

The small Church of All Saints, on North Street in York, is special for a very important reason. This little church contains the most impressive (and what might be the best), collection of medieval stained glass in Britain, dating from the 14th and 15th Centuries. Because of its size, it is possible for the viewer to see the glass at a much closer distance than we normally can in the cathedral churches, where the majority of other medieval glass survives. 

The earliest glass dates from the first half of the 14th Century, when the east end was rebuilt. The majority of the stained glass dates from the 15th Century, when other works were carried out. All of the stained glass windows date between 1330 and 1430.

After the reformation, the chantry altars were removed, the open spaces of the aisles and choir were filled with box pews and the high altar was replaced with a table. The focus of the church shifted from sacrament to word.

The Middle English poem called the Pricke of Conscience, is portrayed in one of the windows at All Saints. The poem speaks of the final fifteen days of the world. Each of the final days is shown in a separate panel, with Middle English text that paraphrased the poem. The first nine panels show the physical destruction of the earth, with the seas rising and falling, bringing out monsters that make roaring sounds. This is followed by the destruction of buildings through an earthquake and the burning of all physical matter. In the last panel, death with his spear enters the scene, as all human life dies. 

The Blackburn window was given to the church by the Blackburn family who funded it. The glass dates from the 1420’s and depicts St. John the Baptist, St Christopher and St. Ann, who is shown teaching the Virgin to read.