Kirkdale - St Gregory’s Minster

The origins of the Minster are shrouded. Beda reports in 731 that a small community of monks settled near Lastingham in 659 under royal protection, possibly to prepare a burial place for Æthelwald, the king of Deira, in a pathless moorland.

This church, specifically the current nave, was rebuilt in 1065.

In the 12th century, the doorway in the west wall was replaced by the current one (now leading into the tower) and the north aisle was built to accommodate the growing population, before famine and the plague halved the population again.

The choir was rebuilt in 1881. At the same time, stained glass windows were inserted into the east wall and the north wall of the side aisle in the style of the time. Overall, the newly built choir appears disproportionately large compared to the tower and the nave.

The Minster bears the patron saint's name Gregory the Great. He was pope from 590 to 604, is considered one of the most important popes and is the youngest of the four great Latin church fathers of late antiquity.