York Historic Environment Record

The following account of the Church of All Saints is taken from 'The parish churches', A History of the County of York: the City of York (1961), pp. 365-404.

"The church of ALL SAINTS, Peaseholme Green, is first mentioned in a document dated between 1191 and 1206 in terms that suggest that it had been founded early in the 12th century. It was said by the citizens of York to be in the fee of Ralf Nuvel (about whom little else is known) and it is implied that it had been built by his ancestor. The advowson remained in lay hands: the le Grant family presented in 1275 and 1292 and were succeeded by the Salvayn family, one of whom had married a le Grant heiress. Between 1337 and 1469 presentations were made by Nicholas de Langton and his descendants. In 1471 William Eure presented and in 1515 the assigns of Christopher Danby. In 1582 the advowson was owned by Elizabeth Kellet of Heworth.

The rectory was valued at £4 13s. 4d. in 1291. In the Valor it was said that the tithes from the vill of Heworth amounted to £4 and those from the city 3s.; oblations were valued at 6s.; the only outgoings were synodals to the archbishop of 16d. The benefice was valued by the civic authorities at £3 for taxation purposes in 1428.

Under the Act of Edward VI it was proposed in 1548 to unite two other decayed benefices with All Saints, but All Saints itself declined during the later 16th century: by 1578 the fabric of the church and the parsonage were decayed, the rector was a pluralist and no sermons were delivered. Together with St. Helen-on-the-Walls and St. Mary's, Layerthorpe, the benefice was united with St. Cuthbert's in 1586. In 1590 the ruins of the fabric were sold to Alderman Trew; in 1736 a small section of wall was said still to be standing.

The site of the church is marked on the 1852 Ordnance Plan in the Haymarket at the south end of Peaseholme Green; the site is now covered by the modern roadway known as The Stonebow. Some foundations are said to have been uncovered in 1853 when a weigh-house, now demolished, was built on the site.

The parish lay within the walls close to the Fish pond of the Foss: it retained a separate identity for secular purposes after 1586 and is marked on the 1852 Plan as a township of St. Cuthbert's. Between 1601 and 1900 it did not, however, have separate overseers and rates were collected with those of St. Cuthbert's and St. Helen-on-the-Walls. The detached portions in Heworth were presumably merged with St. Cuthbert's in the 16th century for nothing is heard of them after that time.

All Saints was probably associated in some informal way in the later Middle Ages with the hospital or house of chantry priests, known as the Holy Priests' House, in Peaseholme Green which had been founded in or before 1386. The house lay at the west end of the church."



The earliest known documentary reference to the parish church of All Saints, Peasholme, or All Saints in the Marsh dates to the early 13th century, although earlier archaeological evidence, in the form of floor foundation rafts and wall foundations of small limestone fragments and broken pieces of Roman brick and tile, suggest that it was built as early as the 11th century. The church was in use until 1586, when it was closed by an act of Parliament and united with the parish church of St Cuthbert on Peasholme Green. Houses and other buildings were constructed around the church yard, forming a square. John Speed’s map of 1610 shows the ruins of All Saints Peasholme, the church yard boundary and the houses and other buildings around it. Some of these buildings were directly connected with the church, such as the Holy Priests’ House; a college or residence of chantry priests built in the late 14th century on the south-west side of the square. Other domestic dwellings around the church yard, such as the four houses and several cottages referred to by Robert Foyster in his will of 1584, were probably home to secular residents. The church was partially demolished in 1589–90, but elements are thought to have remained standing into the 18th century when ruins were described by Drake in Eboracum The church yard was accessed from Peasholme Green and Haver Lane, as Dundas Street and Brunswick Place were not constructed until the early 19th century.

The former churchyard of All Saints, Peasholme was preserved within the landscape as an open space across the following centuries. It gradually became identified as part of Peasholme Green which, from the late 16th century, attracted fairs and markets. It was well-placed to serve the main commercial area of the town, as well as having good transport links in and out of York via Layerthorpe. In 1708, the corporation established a wool market in St. Anthony’s Hall. This later moved into Peasholme Green itself, where the wool was weighed and tolls collected. This market operated here into the second half of the 19th century. Other businesses capitalised on the introduction of the wool market into the area and a public house by the name of the Woolpack Inn was opened on Peasholme Green, directly opposite St Anthony’s Hall. In 1827, the hay market was relocated to the former church yard of All Saints Peasholme from King’s Square. The introduction of this facility created a new focal point within the Hungate area. The former church yard of All Saints Peasholme soon became known as the Hay Market.The development of the Hay Market in several different building phases over an extended period of time resulted in a diverse built environment which boasted a variety of building styles. Its long development history meant that its physical character was very different from other areas of the neighbourhood which had been intensively developed with rows of terraced housing within a short period of time at the beginning of the 19th century. It also contained a mix of large and small buildings, attracting owners and residents from wide social backgrounds.

Victoria County History, 1961, A History of the County of York: the City of York, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36375 (Bibliographic reference). SYO1174.

York Archaelogical Trust, 2016, All Saints in the Marsh, Peasholme; Excavations at the former Peasholme Hostel and Haymarket car park (Unpublished document). SYO2600.