AN EXHIBITION in York Minster is commemorating a pivotal moment in the Minster’s recent history: the fire on 9 July 1984, 40 years ago, which gutted the south transept.
The exhibition, “Out of the Ashes”, tells the story of the firefighting effort, the rescuing of artefacts, and the £2.25-million restoration after the blaze, believed to have been sparked by lightning in the early hours (News, 21 September 2007).
One third of the roof had been obliterated by the time the fire crews arrived. The fire was prevented from spreading into the central tower by forcing water jets to bring down the burnt timbers. The divisional fire commander, Alan Stow, remembered them falling like dominoes: “I wouldn’t have believed a stone floor could shake, but my word, it did,” he told reporters.
As fire crews came from across North Yorkshire to assist, Minster staff and clergy raced to remove as many precious objects as they could. In interviews, the Master Mason, John David, described the night as both traumatic and surreal, but said: “As craftsmen, the first thought was, ‘Let’s put it back, let’s rebuild it.’ There was no doubt that we could do it.”
The restoration took four years. The famous rose window — designed to celebrate the marriage of King Henry VII to Elizabeth of York, and known as the “Heart of Yorkshire” — did not dislodge, largely thanks to work done in 1969, but cracked in 40,000 places. The exhibition carries pictures of the roof completely off and the cathedral open to the elements.
Chapter of York. Reproduced by kind permissionA carved roof boss depicting the raising of the Mary Rose, designed by Joanna Biggs, aged 16, in a Blue Peter competition in 1986
The exhibition includes interviews with glaziers and other craftsmen. The masonry team spent a year re-carving the six roof bosses, which were designed by Blue Peter competition winners and continue to engage children. They include a spaceman landing on the moon.
The curator, Kirsty Mitchell, is thankful for the extent of the photographic archive and other material relating to the fire. “Fortunately, many of the people who were working here at the time took the time to write down their accounts; so we have eyewitness accounts of what happened, and reports from subsequent years,” she said.
“There were lots of scrapbooks, too, and that very much dictated the direction of the exhibition — not least in the fact that there was nothing I could say that would be more powerful than the words of people who were there on the night. We’ve directly pulled quotes from those eyewitness reports, and used the words of people who experienced it first-hand.”
Anecdotes from visitors to the exhibition who remember the fire, or were part of the rescue operation or the clean-up, are adding to the archive of memories.
Going through the material was very emotional, Ms Mitchell says. “I think part of that is because we’re very used to dealing with things that are hundreds of years old, and suddenly we’re dealing with this thing that is living memory and collective memory — not only for the Minster, but for the for the wider city,” she said.
Water affected the entire building, and was pumped out by a Roman drain in the undercroft which had been dormant for centuries. “At one point, a load of terry towels and nappies appeared — so absorbent for mopping up the pools of water. It’s those kind of details that convey that fantastic sense of people coming together, the community spirit and outpouring of support that ensued,” she said. “So many of the eyewitness accounts mention cups of tea.”
Chapter of York. Reproduced by kind permissionThe rose window in the south transept, which survived the fire, although not undamaged
Minster staff and clergy had raced in to retrieve objects such as candlesticks and textiles: one memory recorded in the exhibition is a cat curled up on top of a pile of rescued vestments and “taking a nap in the middle of all the chaos”, she said.
The present Dean, the Very Revd Dominic Barrington, reflects that today’s health-and-safety protocols would likely have stopped staff from braving the fire to rescue the artefacts. “It’s one of the most breathtaking buildings in the world: an enormous building in what is otherwise a medium sized-town,” he reflected. “You can’t get lost in York, because you can see the Minster from almost anywhere you are. For people of any faith, it’s the main icon of their home town.”
The Victorians had replaced like for like after a fire in 1840. “One of the loveliest things about this exhibition is that it highlights a new way of thinking,” he said in relation to the replacement bosses. “Phoenixes are born out of the ashes, and the exhibition is brilliant.”
“Out of the Ashes” runs until until summer 2025.