St Marys Abbey Remains Church

Details

YORK

SE5952SE MUSEUM GARDENS 1112-1/12/778 St Mary's Abbey remains: Church 14/06/54 (Formerly Listed as: MUSEUM GARDENS Remains of St Mary's Abbey)

GV I

Formerly known as: Remains of St Mary's Abbey MUSEUM GARDENS. Abbey church, now ruined. 1089, 1270-94. Magnesian limestone incorporating some re-used Roman gritstone. PLAN: 8-bay nave, 3-bay transepts, 9-bay east arm, all aisled: central tower originally. EXTERIOR: east arm: base courses of buttressed east end and north wall exposed. Transepts: to north transept, base courses of east wall and fragment of north wall and buttress exposed. To south transept, base courses of east wall and buttresses survive; lower courses of west wall visible including buttress with moulded bases of triple attached angle shafts. South-west buttress now contained in basement of the Tempest Anderson Hall (qv). Nave: north side on bold plinth, articulated by 2-stage buttresses. Bay towards western end contains moulded doorway with 2-centred arch springing from piers of alternately attached and detached shafts with decayed capitals, beneath hoodmould on stops: on each side are narrow pointed blind arches. Windows similarly arcaded with alternately 2- or 3-light arched windows, originally with traceried heads, flanked by recessed pointed blind arches. Arcade carried on detached shafts, mostly missing, with stiff-leaf capitals, largely decayed, the outer sides dying into flanking walls: window mullions originally multi-shaft piers with moulded capitals, now decaying. Sillstring below windows. On south side, lower courses of 5 bays and fragments of buttresses with splayed angles and triple engaged shafts are visible. West front: on moulded plinth, buttressed and arcaded in three tiers of trefoiled blind arches springing from tripled shafts with moulded or foliate capitals under crocketed gables. North side of west door arch survives, of 5 orders, one attached, four detached, enriched with vine trail mouldings. Decayed north jamb only of the west window survives. Remains of 3-light west window to north aisle had moulded arch on jambs of engaged shafts and with moulded soffit. INTERIOR: east end: plan of church of 1089 set out in stonework on the ground. North aisle bays articulated by lowest courses of triple engaged shafts rising from wall bench. East respond of north arcade has five filleted or keeled shafts. On south side lower courses of four arcade piers of octofoil plan with filleted and keeled shafts

reconstructed. Crossing: north-west pier asymmetrical on plan intact to springing height, with multiple filleted and keeled shafts, moulded bases and stiff-leaf capitals. Remaining three piers rebuilt to height of 5 courses. North transept: lower courses and vestiges of wallbenches of two north bays of west wall survive: both bays arcaded in two pointed arches with hoodmoulds, each over twin subsidiary arches springing from shafts, now missing, with moulded capitals and with moulded uncusped roundel in the spandrel. Third bay has 2-centred arch of 3 moulded orders to nave north aisle. Above, one bay of triforium survives, with 2-centred arch of 2 orders over blind arcade of 4 trefoiled lights and quatrefoil tracery. South jamb of middle bay window has 3 engaged shafts with decaying moulded capitals and bases. Nave arcades: of north arcade, nothing survives: of south arcade, base courses of one octofoil pier with one trefoiled shaft towards south aisle. West responds are multiple shafted, keeled and filleted, and with triple roll-moulded bases and foliate capitals. North aisle wall is articulated by full-height triple engaged shafts with moulded bases and foliate capitals. Each bay arcaded as for north transept, with tripled arches rather than two: north doorway blocked with railings, incorporated in arcading, has stilted segmental rere-arch beneath hoodmould to inner face. In westernmost bay is plain blocked doorway to vice. In upper stage, external window detailing repeated on inside. South aisle wall survives only in base courses of 3 bays, fragments of wallbench, flight of door steps and base of one triple shafted pier. West end: west doorway flanked by 2-arched arcades as in north transept and by single trefoiled arches as on exterior of west end. Scheduled Ancient Monument. (An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of York: RCHME: Outside the City Walls East of the Ouse: HMSO London: 1975-: 8-12).



Listing NGR: SE5988752148

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

464211

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
An Inventory of the City of York IV East, (1975), 8-12

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.