A stone's throw from the bustle of one of York's most beguiling streets lies an almost secret haven that has survived the ravages of time.
Tucked behind the crooked line of Our Lady's Row in Goodramgate lies Holy Trinity, one of York’s oldest surviving medieval churches that is deserving of more than a mere passing glance from busy shoppers and tourists who trot past on whistle-stop tours.
Holy Trinity Church lies behind Our Lady's Row in Goodramgate.
This small, quiet churchyard was one of the secret spaces featured in York Unlocked recently - an event that opened the door to some of the city's most treasured, but possibly, overlooked sites.
Captured here in our old photos, the present building mainly dates from the 13th to 15th centuries though a community worshipped here as far back as the end of the 11th century, and some fabric from its 12th‑century foundation is still visible.
From a 1906 guidebook, showing the Georgian altar cloth which was destroyed by fire in 1981
It has never been swept clean by Victorian 'restoration' which is part of its charm.
The entrance to Holy Trinity is through a narrow gateway behind one of York’s oldest streets, at the end of humble cottages making up Our Lady's Row, that were built in 1316 in the churchyard to fund a chantry to the Virgin Mary.
Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York.
Its tower wears a rare saddleback (double‑sloping) roof, giving Holy Trinity a distinctive silhouette that sets it apart from the more common spired or flat‑topped towers of the city.
But its interior is what makes Holy Trinity such a gem.
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The nave is crowded with the original 17th‑ and 18th‑century enclosed wooden box pews, a rare survival in York where families would sit facing each, sheltering from drafts as they listened to sermons from the privacy of their own 'room' within the church.
It could have been this unusual historic feature that led the BBC to film its period drama, Death Comes to Pemberley, here.
The 15th-century East Window at Holy Trinity Church, in Goodramgate, York.
Holy Trinity also contains important medieval stained glass of quality. The east window holds fine late‑Perpendicular stained glass donated in the early 1470s by the then rector, John Walker, and other panels preserve a quiet, coloured light that has fallen across these stones for more than 500 years.
Look carefully and you can spot its benefactor immortalised as a kneeling figure below the figures of the Trinity.
Sophie Rundle and Suranne Jones in TV drama Gentleman Jack.
It also played a landmark role in LGBTQ+ history. On Easter Sunday, March 30,1834, Anne Lister and Ann Walker took Holy Communion here as a public sealing of their relationship, an act Lister described in her diaries as a kind of marriage.
Holy Trinity Church was used in filming of the 'wedding scene' in the television drama Gentleman Jack, which recounted the story of Anne Lister, played by starring Suranne Jones, and her relationship with Ann Walker, played by Sophie Rundle.
Plaque commemorating Anne Lister at Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York.
In 2018 a rainbow‑edged blue plaque was unveiled outside marking this as York’s first LGBT history plaque.
The whole floor is made of grave stones, including those for Lord Mayors and even the groom of the bed chamber to Charles II.
After falling out of regular parish use, it was declared redundant in 1971, and the church is now preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust. Restored during the 1970s, it welcomes visitors today as a historic site with occasional services.
Looking at these old photographs, it is easy to imagine Anne Lister passing through the same gateway, or a 17th‑century family settling into their high‑sided pew as the light shifted through the glass.
In a city of grand monuments, Holy Trinity may be hidden from the main flow of the city, but it is rich in the sort of detail that rewards a second glance: the uneven floor, the hand‑worn wood, the quiet testimony of lives lived and loved within its walls.