St Crux is a

parish hall A church hall or parish hall is a room or building associated with a church, generally for community and charitable use.

in York, in England, which incorporates the remains of a Mediaeval church.

History

The building is on Pavement, although it is entered from

The Shambles The Shambles is a historic street in York, England, featuring preserved medieval buildings, some dating back as far as the fourteenth century. The street is narrow with many timber-framed buildings with jettied floors that overhang the street b ...

, while it backs onto Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate. St Crux was first mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, at which time it belonged to the

Count of Mortain The County of Mortain was a medieval county in France centered on the town of Mortain. A choice landholding, usually either kept within the family of the duke of Normandy (or the king of France) or granted to a noble in return for service and favo ...

, later passing to St Mary's Abbey. The church was rebuilt between 1402 and 1424, incorporating a Saxon carved stone into the north wall. The tower was rebuilt from 1697, and

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 (t ...

described the Italianate tower as "a handsome new steeple of brick coined with stone". Although the church was regarded as one of the finest in the city, by the 19th-century, it was in a poor condition, and it was closed in 1880; the parish was soon merged into that of

All Saints' Church All Saints Church, or All Saints' Church or variations on the name may refer to: Albania *All Saints' Church, Himarë Australia * All Saints Church, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory * All Saints Anglican Church, Henley Brook, Western Aust ...

. Fisher and Hepper drew up plans in 1884 to restore the church, but it was instead demolished three years later, over the objections of the

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the destructive 'restoration' of ancient buildings occurring in ...

. Despite the poor condition of the tower, it proved sturdy enough that it had to be dynamited.''

The Press ''The Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One comm ...

'' has described it as "perhaps the most famous" lost church of York. St Crux 1888 renovation (8062262474)

In 1888, a parish hall was built on the site of St Crux, reusing materials from the church, including much of its north wall, and the Perpendicular east window. Inside are many of the monuments and fixtures from the former church. Burials include

Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland, 1st Baron Percy, KG (152822 August 1572), led the Rising of the North and was executed for treason. He was later beatified by the Catholic Church. Early life Percy was the eldest son of Sir Thomas ...

Sir Thomas Herbert Sir Thomas Herbert, 1st Baronet (1606–1682), was an English traveller, historian and a gentleman of the bedchamber of King Charles I while Charles was in the custody of Parliament (from 1647 until the king's execution in January 1649). Biogr ...

, and two

Lord Mayors of York Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...

: Thomas Bowes and Robert Welles. Map_of_medieval_parish_churches_of_York_-_St_Crux,_Pavement

The building was

grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 1954. It is used as a tea room, and for charity markets.

References

{{coords, 53.95906, -1.07950, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title

Crux Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for c ...

Grade II* listed churches in York Buildings and structures completed in 1888