St Clement's
Church
York
The Vanished Church of St Mary's Bishophill Senior
St Clement's was originally the daughter church of St Mary's Bishophill Senior which was demolished in 1963. There were originally two churches called St Mary's in the Bishophill area of York, St Mary's Bishophill Senior and St Mary's Bishophill Junior. St Mary's Bishophill Junior is still in use today as a parish church and is probably the oldest church in York as it almost certainly pre-dates the Norman conquest in 1066.
Bishophill is set within the city walls on the south side of the River Ouse and is one of the oldest areas of York being inhabited from Roman times. The first reference to a Bishop of York is in 314AD when Bishop Eborius attended a church council in Arles. Could it be that Bishophill was the place where the early Bishops of York had their church? It is not known for certain when the first church was built on the site of St Mary's Bishophill Senior. Excavations have revealed that there was certainly a graveyard on the site in the tenth century. A single cell church was built in the early 11th century and a north aisle was added around 1180. A large chancel was added in the early 13th century and there were further extensions and alterations in the two centuries after that. We know that there was a church tower which was badly damaged in a storm in April 1378. There is also evidence from a city plan of 1610 that there was a free standing bell tower at that time. The church tower seen in the above picture was added in 1659 and at this time the chancel walls were raised. The church was restored in 1859-60 but soon fell into disuse and by 1930 it was empty.
A Churchwarden of St. Clement’s visited St Mary's Bishophill Senior in the spring of 1950, and found the door open and the building desecrated and in disrepair. It was being used as a rubbish dump, a sleeping place, a playground for children and a target for vandals. The condition of the church continued to deteriorate and in 1963 the decision was taken to demolish it. Before demolition many of the monuments were removed and relocated to St Clement's and to the new church of Holy Redeemer in Boroughbridge Road. Amongst those items relocated to St Clement's was a remarkable Saxon or pre-Conquest grave cover belonging to the first half of the eleventh century. The form of cross upon it is that known as patriachal, which probably signifies that it was the gravestone of a bishop.
Today all that is left of the church is a peaceful churchyard with just a few headstones left standing, a quiet oasis in the heart of the city.