About Us
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MINSTER
Howden Minster, dedicated to SS. Peter & Paul, is the Parish Church of Howden,
a lovely and largely un-spoiled Georgian Market town situated on the South Western
edge of the Diocese of York.
AD900 There has been a place of worship on or near the site of the present Church since AD967. Nothing remains today of the Saxon Church.
1080 William the Conquerer gave the Manor and Church of Howden to the Prince Bishops of Durham.
1228 Work commenced on the present building and was completed in the fifteenth century
when the chapter house and top of the tower as added by Bishop Walter de Skirlaw.
1264 A college of five canons and priests was established to provide for the sprititual needs
of the area. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the town became a place of
pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. John of Howden, through whoose intercession a number of miracles took place.
1548 Henry VIII disolved the Collegiate Churches, Howden amongst them. Elizabeth I gave
the revenues of the Manor of Howden to local landowners, who refused to repair the choir,
which fell into ruin.
1644 The Parliamentarians used the church as a stable, causing much damage to the interior.
Included in their iconoclasm was the organ. They were heard using the pipe as
whistles as they marched out of the town to lay seige to Wressle Castle.
1696 After 150 years of neglect, on the night of 29th September the roof of the choir fell down,
the ruins lying where they fell until 1748 when the site was cleared. The townsfolk
used the masonry as building stone.
1929 During the town Horse Fair, drunks got into the tower and started a fire destroying the modern choir. In attempts to fight the fire, the 1909 Ward organ was destroyed by water.
.
1932 The church was re-hallowed following the restoration.
1974 The ruined part of the church passed into the care of The Ministry of Works.
