6/18 York Minster Crypt

These are photos I took in the crypt area under part of the church that was excavated when they discovered that parts of the building, most importantly, the main center tower, were in danger of collapsing 50 years ago.  They have turned the work done here and the items found as part of their reconstruction into a museum, which is open to the public.  

 

When cracks in the foundation of the main tower were found, a major effort was made to inspect the foundations of the entire building and make fixes.  This meant digging 

 

 

 

When you consider that the minster was built and then rebuilt and enlarged over hundreds of years, it is obvious that most of the construction was done without knowledge of the ground under the foundation.  This image depicts some of the problems caused by what the underlying structures sit upon.  

 

The bits and pieces shown in the lightest lower level indicated the ruins of a Roman fortress.  The layers above were mostly dirt and gravel.   

 

  

The photo below shows foundations from an earlier church built in Medieval times. 

Note the wall on the left with large, black caps. These are the end bolts of long rods that are holding together the the parts of walls that had cracked and moved.  

Two more rooms full of artifacts and support bolts. 

 

 

More Roman artifacts found in the digging.  

And a whole corridor filled with bolts holding parts  of the foundation together.

Some artifacts from the Medieval church that was on this site before the current minster was built.  These items were found when repairs were made to the Nave floor in 1732.  They were buried with two archbishops who were buried in the 13th and 14th Century.  

Many churches in the UK and elsewhere were built over previous churches or structures, so many have such crypts that provide historical information, which I find very interesting.