King by King: The Choir Screen at York Minster

This post about the York Minster Choir Screen (often called the Kings’ Screen for obvious reasons) originally appeared on PNW & Beyond and was moved here during a site change. I had a few other posts about York, but the only one that got moved here was about walking York’s Snickelways and walls (which you must do if you go there—going to York Minster is also a must!).

As medieval cathedral choir screens go, I think the York Minster Kings’ Screen is the most memorable.  As I initially wrote a post about things to do in York, I realized I’d taken at least one photograph of every king on the York Minster choir screen. Here’s a post devoted specifically to them, with a photo gallery and a description of each king.

Medieval cathedrals commonly have a choir screen (rood screen) separating the nave from the choir area. To our modern ears, a “screen” may sound like a flimsy partition, but in a medieval cathedral, the choir screen is commonly made of stone or metal and is ornate.

York Minster’s choir screen is the most memorable choir screen I’ve seen.

The screen includes fifteen expressive carved stone kings ranging from William the Conqueror to Henry VI: seven to the left and eight to the right.

Henry V originally commissioned this fifteenth-century rood screen.

However, he died before its completion. William Hindly, the master mason at York Minster at that time, completed the screen during the reign of Henry VI.

According to this post, the statue of Henry IV has a fascinating history. The original was destroyed in the late 15th century as people took to the cathedral to worship the statue, praying and lighting candles to it—unwelcome behavior to the archbishop! Finally, in 1810, a new figure replaced the old.

The Kings of the York Minster Choir Screen

Below the big photo of the entire screen (which is, unfortunately, blurry) are individual photos of the kings arranged from left to right. You can click on a single picture to open the lightbox and navigate through the images or to read more information about each king.

York Minster Choir Screen Gallery

I had a long list of each king here before, but it was overkill. The gallery images show the name of the king on hover and if you click and open the lightbox, there’s more information in the lightbox for many of them.