St Crux is a

parish hall A church hall or parish hall is a room or building associated with a church architecture, church, generally for community and Charitable organization, charitable use. In smaller and village communities, it is often a separate building near the ...

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 Middle Ages, medieval buildings, some dating back as far as the 14th century. The street is narrow, with many Timber framing, timber-framed buildings with Jettying, jettied ...

, while it backs onto

Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate is a street in York, England, known for its short length and unusual name. A continuation of Colliergate, it runs south to meet Pavement, Fossgate, and the Stonebow, a distance of perhaps , and is adjoined by St Saviourg ...

. 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, at which time it belonged to the

Count of Mortain The County of Mortain was a medieval county in the Duchy of Normandy in France centered on the town of Mortain, disputed between France and England during parts of the Hundred Years' War. A choice landholding, usually either kept within the family ...

, 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 ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

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, Brisbane, Queensland *All ...

. 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 Victorian restoration, destructive 'restoration' of ancient bu ...

. 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 (company), Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday t ...

'' has described it as "perhaps the most famous" lost church of York. 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) was an English nobleman, politician and Roman Catholic rebel leader, who led the Rising of the North against Elizabeth I in 1569. After the failure of the risin ...

, Sir Thomas Herbert, and two

Lord Mayors of York The Lord Mayor of York is the chairman of City of York Council, first citizen and civic head of York. The appointment is made by the council each year in May, at the same time appointing a sheriff, the city's other civic head. York's lord mayor ...

: Thomas Bowes and Robert Welles. The building was

grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

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 lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system ...

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