The Minster Church of St Peter and St Paul is one of the biggest churches in the East Riding of Yorkshire, reflecting the prosperity of the medieval town.
In 1267 the minster was made a collegiate church by the Bishop of Durham, to whom the manor of Howden had been gifted in the 1080s, and work began to rebuild the Norman church, starting with the nave. The choir was then rebuilt in the first half of the 14th century and the octagonal chapter house was added c1388.
After the dissolution of collegiate churches in 1548, the church began to fall into ruin and only the nave was used for services. The roof and upper walls of the choir collapsed in 1696, followed by the roof of the chapter house in 1750.
The grammar school, established around 1500, was located in the south-west corner of the church and formed the two westernmost bays of the nave's south aisle. The school appears to have survived the Reformation and was still sending students to university in the 1560s. It was restored in the middle of the 19th century but ceased to be used in 1925. In 2001 the site was dedicated at the Chapel of the Resurrection and is now the song school for the modern choir.
This photograph was withdrawn from the open Red Box Collection for conservation reasons during the 2011-2012 Red Box Project.
This is part of the Series: RBO01/20 Early Photographic Print Collection: Humberside; within the Collection: RBO01 Early Photographic Print Collection
© Courtauld Institute of Art
Photographer: Crossley, Frederick Herbert
Donor: Buckley, George Granville
Tracery, Mullioned Window, Medieval Church, Grammar School, Medieval Minster