YORK Minster is seeking to repeat the success of its Winter Village with its own Christmas and Advent market returning for a November to Christmas Eve run.

The minster has submitted plans to city of York Council to temporarily site six chalets for the market, which it stresses is essential to help it recover financially from the pandemic and its lockdowns.

The application says the minster would work with Jamboree and Make it York, to return some of York’s Christmas Festival to the precinct.

If approved, five chalets would be sited on lawn surrounding a Christmas Tree, behind iron railings, on land previously used for such markets in front of the South Quire Aisle. A sixth chalet would be used for storage and ice carving would create ‘a seasonal echo’ in the Mason’s Lodge.

The market would connect the minster to the wider Christmas market and follow the example of other English and European cities, with the minster playing a role in their Christmas markets.

York Press:

It continued: “Benches would be provided for people to stop and dwell with low volume choral music/carols being played. The chalets will sell Christmas food, gluhwein and hot chocolate. There will be a dedicated chalet selling York Minster Christmas gifts as well as a ‘Best of Yorkshire produce’. One chalet will be available for use by local charities.”

The Minster says the event aims to drive extra footfall to the Christmas Yard and boost the overall Christmas Market by delivering a family-friendly attraction, attracting a wider range of people. This would boost the sales of Minster-related products in its own retail outlet as well as generate rental income for the Minster from the traders. It would also support the Minster “in its recovery from the significant financial losses seen in 2020.”

The application explained: “The Minster receives no Government Funding. The responsibility of caring for the cathedral and its Precinct falls with Chapter and the generosity of various funding bodies and paying visitors. Coronavirus has meant Chapter has suffered a catastrophic loss of income through two extended periods of closure due to national restrictions on visitor operations.”

The market would not harm the setting of the Minster, it continued, as its impact would be far less than the essential scaffolding that will be on the building for ten more years to restore and conserve the Quire Aisle and its medieval windows.

“More recently, the South Quire Transept has been brought into the project adding a further £5.0M to the total £17.0M restoration costs,” it said.

The chalets would only be erected temporarily until January and the grass be restored.

The application added: “No complaints regarding the impact on the setting of the Minster have been received from the public during either the 2021 Winter Village or the 2022 Summer Village.”