ROMAN CATHOLICISM
Roman Catholics were worshipping in the King's
Manor in 1687-8. (fn. 1) A house in Little Blake Street
(now Duncombe Place) may have been occupied by
a Roman Catholic priest about 1688 and probably
continued to be used as a priest-house by Roman
Catholic clergy serving in the city in the late-17th
and early-18th centuries. (fn. 2) In 1742 the Mission of
St. Wilfrid was founded in York, in the charge of
Thomas Daniel, a Douai priest who had been serving at Linton-upon-Ouse (N.R.). (fn. 3) Daniel resided
in the Little Blake Street house and it was probably
this house or part of it that was opened for public
Roman Catholic worship in 1760. (fn. 4) In 1764 about
170 papists were said to be meeting in a house that
was almost certainly this one. (fn. 5) It was probably known
as 7 Little Blake Street, and was purchased by the
York Union Lodge of Freemasons in 1806. (fn. 6) The
building was demolished and the site cleared during
the construction of Duncombe Place between 1859
and 1864. (fn. 7)
Roman Catholic priests and the houses they
occupied and served are mentioned in other parts of
the city in the 18th century. (fn. 8) A house in which two
priests lived and in which mass was performed was
recorded in the parish of Holy Trinity, Micklegate,
in 1735. (fn. 9) In 1743 there were four priests in this
parish and an unlicensed meeting-house attended by
Roman Catholics from all parts of the city. (fn. 10) A
house used for Roman Catholic meetings in the
parish of Holy Trinity, King's Court, was recorded
in 1764. (fn. 11) Possibly this was the Colliergate house of
a Mrs. More, who, like others in the city, had a
Jesuit chaplain. (fn. 12) The chapel at St. Mary's Convent, Blossom Street, was also used for worship by
Roman Catholics of the city from its inception in
1686. (fn. 13)
Despite this papist activity in other parts of the
city, the Little Blake Street house seems to have remained the chief centre of Roman Catholic worship.
It is probable that a room in the house was used as
a chapel (fn. 14) until 1802 when a new chapel dedicated
to St. Wilfrid was built opposite to this house and
on the site of the present St. Wilfrid's Church. (fn. 15)
The site of the pre-Reformation church of St. Wilfrid
is close to the modern Roman Catholic church. This
chapel provided accommodation for 700 persons and
has been described as a brick building with a gallery
and organ loft, and, annexed to the chapel, a presbytery. (fn. 16)
The need for more accommodation led to the
erection of a new church in 1864. Little Blake Street
was being widened at this time to form Duncombe
Place and so the site was adapted to the new building
line. (fn. 17) The new church was dedicated to ST.
WILFRID, as was the chapel of 1760. The building
is of stone in Gothic style with a decorated tower
and elaborately carved, arched doorway. The interior of the church is of stone and lighted by
leaded lights. The nave is flanked by side aisles and
leads into an apsidal chancel; behind the altar are
large murals. St. Wilfrid's was designed by George
Goldie of York. The cost of the church and fittings
was over £10,000. (fn. 18)
The Irish immigration of the 1840's resulted in an
increase of Roman Catholics in the Walmgate area,
and, in order to provide a more convenient church,
a site at the corner of George Street and St. Margaret
Street was purchased. The church of ST. GEORGE
was opened on 4 September 1850; as with St. Wilfrid's a pre-Reformation church of the same dedication had existed in the area. (fn. 19) The church is Early
Decorated style and has three gabled roofs and a
double belfry surmounted by a crucifix. The architects were Joseph and Charles Hansom. St. George's
provides accommodation for 500 persons and a presbytery is attached. The cost of the building and site
was £3,550. (fn. 20) Alterations and restoration of the
church was carried out in 1901 and 1923. (fn. 21)
The CHURCH OF THE ENGLISH MARTYRS
was accommodated in a room in St. Mary's Court,
off Blossom Street, from 1882 until 1889. In that
year the church moved to 17 Blossom Street where
it occupied the upper story of a school building. (fn. 22)
In 1932 the permanent building in Dalton Terrace
was completed. (fn. 23) It is a brick building with a
pantiled roof; there is a tower surmounted by a cross
and the windows contain ornamental leaded lights.
Adjoining the church and built in the same materials
is a presbytery.
In 1932 the church of ST. AELDRED was
founded for Roman Catholics living in the Tang
Hall Estate. It occupied a hall adjoining the Roman
Catholic school in Fifth Avenue from 1932 until
1956 and accommodated 270 persons. In that year
a new building adjoining the school site, at the corner
of Fifth Avenue and Melrosegate, was opened. (fn. 24) The
church, designed by Stephen Simpson of Leeds,
is brick-built and provides accommodation for 400
persons.
On 30 November 1939 St. Joseph's chapel-ofease was opened in Burdyke Avenue in the Water
Lane housing estate. (fn. 25) ST. JOSEPH'S is built of
rustic brick, and is a simple building with a tower and
leaded lights in the two side aisles and in the
clerestory. Adjoining the church is a presbytery.
Roman Catholic services were begun in Acomb
Council school in 1941. The CHURCH OF OUR
LADY, Cornlands Road, was opened in 1955.
There is a nave with two side aisles and a clerestory
and seats are provided for 400 persons; the cost was
£28,000. J. H. Langtry-Langton of Bradford was the
architect. (fn. 26)