Home

City of York
West Yorkshire
Yorkshire Dales
South Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
Yorkshire Coast
Howardian Hills AONB
Nidderdale AONB
North York Moors
East Yorkshire
Teesdale


City of York

York
Barley Hall
Bootham Bar
Breezy Knees
Garden

Clifford's Tower
Coppergate
Dick Turpin's Grave
Fairfax House
Fishergate Bar
Fossgate
Goddard's Garden
Goodramgate
Guy Fawkes Inn
Holy Trinity,
Goodramgate

Holy Trinity,
Micklegate

Jorvik Viking Centre
The King's Manor
Mansion House
Merchant
Adventurers Hall

Micklegate Bar
Norman House
Petergate
Richard III Experience and Monk Bar
Roman Bath Museum
The Shambles
Snickelways
St. Martin le Grand
St. Olave's Church
St. William's College
Stonegate
Treasurer's House
Walmgate Bar
York Castle Museum
York City Walls
York Guildhall
York Minster
York Museum
Gardens

Yorkshire Museum


St. William's College


St. Wiliam's College, YorkMedieval St William's College, a Grade I listed building, is situated in College Street, to which it bestowed its name and stands in the shadow of York Minster.

The black and white timber framed frontage of the building is decorated with several interesting features, including oak carvings, coats of arms, and a sundial. The building's main door has a mouse carving by Robert Thompson, the famous 'Mouse Man of Kilburn'.

St. William's College, YorkThe college was built in 1465 for the Minster's Chantry Priests, who were paid to pray for the souls of the dead. The Lancastrian king, Henry VI granted York Minster a license to establish a college of chantry priests in 1457, however the foundation was delayed by the vicissitudes of the Wars of the Roses, but in 1461 his Yorkist successor, King Edward IV confirmed the grant to the Minster.

The building is named in honour of William Fitzherbert, Archbishop of York who died on 8 June 1154, allegedly due to poison administered in the chalice at Mass. He was York's patron saint who was canonised in 1226. William was chancellor and treasurer of King Henry I. One of FitzHerbert's clerks accused Osbert de Bayeux, an archdeacon of York of the murder, and Osbert was summoned before the king to be tried. Before the trial could take place, however, Stephen died, and the trial never took place. William was buried in York Minster and within a few months of his internment , miracles were attributed to his intervention and a sweet smell came from his tomb when it was damaged during a fire.

Most sources state that William's mother was Emma, half-sister of King Stephen and Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, and that she was an illegitimate daughter of Stephen II, Count of Blois, King Stephen's father. New research, however, suggests that Emma might have been a daughter of Hunger fitzOdin, who is mentioned in the Domesday Book as holding lands in Dorset. William was born sometime before the 1090s, but the exact date of birth is unknown. He has the unusual distinction of having been Archbishop of York twice, both before and after his rival Henry Murdac.

Over the centuries which followed, the building changed ownership and usage many times, during the Civil War it was used as the Royal Printing Press and has also been used as a private house. At one time it was owned by the Earls of Carlisle, but by the late Victorian period it had fallen into a sorry state of decay.

In the late nineteenth century Francis Green, who owned the the nearby Treasurer's House, rescued the building from ruin, purchased it it and subsequently sold it to the City Council at no profit. The council restored the building in around 1902. It then came under the care of the Dean and Chapter of York Minster.

There is a restaurant at ground level, and 4 rooms, which are rented out for functions such as banquets and social ceremonies. The largest of the chambers is Maclagan Hall, which was probably the medieval great hall of the chantry priests. The 'House of Layman', an attractive chamber under the timber roof, which was used as a meeting area by laymen when the Bishops were in convocation. Visitors can tour the medieval chambers at a small cost.

Historic Buildings in York

Barley Hall Bishopthorpe Palace Clifford's Tower Fairfax House
Guy Fawkes Inn Jacob's Well Mansion House Merchant
Adventurers Hall
Multiangular Tower Norman House St.Leonard's Hospital St. Mary's Abbey
St. William's College Treasurer's House York City Walls York Guildhall


The city of York

Historic Buildings