The Diocese of York was at one time very much larger than at present, and covered most of northern England north of the River Trent.
The present diocese stretches from the River Tees in the North to the River Humber in the South, and from the Yorkshire coast westwards about as far as the A1 trunk road. It includes the industrial cities of Middlesbrough and Hull, the City of York, a number of seaside resorts (including Bridlington, Scarborough and Whitby), a scatter of country towns and a huge area of sparsely populated countryside in the Vale of York, the Yorkshire Wolds and the North Yorkshire Moors.
Eborius
The first known Bishop of York, whom we know as Eborius (i.e. he came from Roman Eboracum) attended the Synod of Arles in the year 314. Little is known of the church in the York area until the year 625 when Paulinus became Bishop of York. Two years later, following his conversion to the Christian faith, Edwin, King of Northumbria, caused the first known York Minster to be built. Its site is not known. The first Archbishop was Egbert who in 735 was given wider authority over the church in the north of England.
York Minster
York Cathedral, the church in which the Archbishop has his throne, is otherwise known as
York Minster: a Minster (from the Latin Monasterium) is a church served by a community of clergy known as Canons. It is the largest Gothic cathedral north of the Alps and contains more ancient stained and painted glass than any other church in the country, including more than 120 windows from the twelfth to the sixteenth century. The Diocese is rich in fine churches, including Beverley Minster, Selby Abbey, Bridlington Priory and Holy Trinity, Hull (one of the largest parish churches in England) The beautiful church at Patrington was the frontispiece of of the recent book on England's Thousand Best Churches. Many interesting smaller churches include Lastingham, with its unique Norman aisled crypt; St Mary, Whitby, full of eighteenth century box pews; and Pickering, which has the finest medieval wall paintings in the north of England. The city churches in York are rich in medieval glass and fine furniture.
Abbeys
Before the Reformation, the Diocese of York was rich in great abbeys, dissolved during the reign of Henry VIII. Some, like Selby Abbey and Bridlington Priory, remain in use as parish churches. Others, among the most beautiful ruins in England, include the Abbeys of Rievaulx and Byland, both Cistercian monasteries, and Mount Grace, the largest Charterhouse in the country. These are now maintained by English Heritage.
John Sentamu
Today, the Diocese of York is led by its 97th Archbishop, Dr John Sentamu, supported by the Bishops of Hull, Whitby and Selby with the Archdeacons of the East Riding, York and Cleveland. It is administered from Diocesan House on the north side of York. The Diocese of York is a worshipping community of faith, full of life and colour, and some of that life and colour may be glimpsed through this site.
