Meet the man who hid in York Minster and set it on fire

Looking back over the Minster's history, the building was devastated by fire on several occasions.

Many readers will remember the fire of 1984 which ruined the South Transept but the mighty cathedral also succumbed to a terrible fire, started deliberately on February 1, 1829.

The firestarter was Jonathan Martin who according to accounts hid in the Minster until nightfall when the cathedral was empty. He piled cushions and prayer books together in the choir and set them alight before leaving the building to its fate.

The blaze was spotted a few hours later but the fire fighters had limited effect against the ferocious flames which melted the lead from the roof and cracked the limestone pillars.

As the flames died out by late that afternoon witnesses could see that about 230 feet of the choir roof had come down and the medieval choir stalls, the organ and the pulpit were destroyed.

Martin, a former sailor, was a non-conformist who believed all prayer should come from the heart and condemned the clergy as ‘vipers of Hell’.

At his trial, Martin was found not guilty due to insanity. He died in a London hospital in 1838.