York’s first minster church was a small wooden affair, built during the reign of King Edwin of Deira, following his conversion by the Gregorian missionary Paulinus in 626AD. Famously described by Bede, the meeting between Christian and heathen likely took place at Edwin’s summer palace at Londesborough, to the east of York on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds. Edwin’s high priest – Coifi – was present and, according to Bede, he immediately rejected the heathen deities he had previously honoured. Coifi rode to the site of his great temple, likely dedicated to Woden, at Goodmanham – another Wolds village – and burnt the entire complex to the ground. York’s wooden minster – dedicated to St Peter – was built the following year to facilitate the baptism of Edwin and his earls.
The location of this wooden church is unknown, but is speculated to lie to the north of the present Minster. A church in stone was completed under King Oswald between 633 and 642AD.
Anglo-Saxon gravestones have been located beneath the present Minster; they are not aligned east-west, as would be expected; instead they perhaps follow the line of the old Roman fortress. Their presence hints at the wooden minster church lying nearby.
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