YORK Minster is preparing to welcome back sightseeing visitors this month with three new Summer exhibitions on the iconic cathedral church.

The Minster will open its doors on Monday, May 17 with new exhibitions exploring the history, architecture and Christian story of the iconic cathedral church.

The Minster has been open for worship since March but it will be the first time people have been able to return for a general admission visit since December 2020.

Subject to confirmation of step 3 of the Government’s roadmap, the Minster will be open for sightseeing visits from May 17.

Between Monday – Saturday, the Minster will open 10am to 4.30pm with last admission at 3.45pm.

On Sunday, the Minster will open 12.30pm to 3.15pm with last admission at 2.30pm.

With tickets now available to book online, visitors can see and hear the Grand Organ - unveiled after a once-in-a-century refurbishment - as well as explore the cathedral’s next major conservation project, the medieval St Cuthbert Window, through an exhibition opening in June.

The Dean of York, Jonathan Frost, said: “We’re delighted to be reopening and look forward to welcoming people back to the Minster.

“We have developed a programme of exhibitions and activities for the summer which will enable visitors and pilgrims to explore the layers of history held in the Cathedral’s magnificent architecture, which has the Christian story at its heart.”

The project to refurbish the Grand Organ was completed in March and the instrument can now be heard throughout the week alongside the world class Choir of York Minster at Choral Evensong services.

A photography exhibition exploring the craft skills which were applied to the £2m refurbishment project will run from June 18 - July 18.
 
On Saturday, June 12, a new exhibition about the medieval St Cuthbert Window will tell the story of the life and miracles of one of Northern England’s most significant saints, will open at the cathedral.

The exhibition, Light, Glass & Stone: Conserving the St Cuthbert Window, will run until 2024 and explore the cathedral’s current project to conserve the window, which is around 600-years-old and one of the largest surviving narrative windows in Europe.

Visitors will have the rare opportunity to see at close range medieval stained glass panels removed from the window as part of the work.

In August the Minster will celebrate the life and work of Grinling Gibbons, the most celebrated British woodcarver of the 17th century, as part of Grinling Gibbons 300 – Carving a Place in History, a national programme marking the 300th anniversary of his death.

Grinling Gibbons: Monuments to Glory, will open at the cathedral on Sunday, August 1 and focus on three stone monuments which Gibbons produced for the cathedral of Archbishops Dolben, Lamplugh and Sterne, placing these in the context of his life and wider work.
The year-long exhibition will be complemented by a sculpture trail inside the cathedral.
 To help manage numbers inside the cathedral, all general admission visits must be booked in advance online with tickets now available via www.yorkminster.org

Free tickets must be booked in advance for Sunday services and are available eight days in advance.