Howden Minster

The elaborately decorated ruins of a 14th century chancel and chapter house (viewable only from the outside), attached to the still operational cathedral-like minster church. 

St Peter’s Church at Howden was originally an Anglo-Saxon foundation. Following the Norman Conquest it was granted by William I to Durham Priory. Over the following centuries the fortunes of the Minster waxed and waned.

In 1696 the great vaulted roof of the choir collapsed. The roof of the chapterhouse fell down in 1750. The ruined choir and chapterhouse were taken into guardianship in 1971 and the latter was repaired and re-roofed in 1984.

Today

Through the gate you can see the ruined choir of the church, later used as a graveyard. It had two aisles and the central portion stood three storeys high.

The octagonal chapterhouse has traceried windows with arched canopies, and outer buttresses with decorative shields. Inside are elaborate carved stone panels above the stone benches where the canons sat for meetings.

At the doorway between the choir and the chapterhouse is a tiny chapel, probably the one founded by Bishop Skirlaw in about 1404.