York Historic Environment Record

YORK SE6051NW CHURCH STREET 1112-1/28/169 (South East side) 14/06/54 St Sampson's (Formerly Listed as: CHURCH STREET St Sampson's Social Centre for Old People) GV II Formerly known as: Church of St Sampson, Girdlergate. Parish church, now Day Centre. Late C15 tower retained in rebuilding of 1845-48; third stage added to tower in 1910. Church made redundant in 1969, converted to day centre 1974. C19 rebuilding by Frederick Bell. MATERIALS: magnesian limestone; parallel roofs of tile and pantile to church, and stone slate roof to vestry. EXTERIOR: 2-bay chancel with east vestry, continuous 3-bay aisled nave with north and south doors, on weathered and chamfered plinth; internal west tower. Building encircled by diagonal and intermediate 2-stage gabled buttresses with offsets. Triple-gabled east end has 2-centred windows of 3 lights, chancel window with cusped intersecting tracery, north aisle window curvilinear tracery, and south aisle window cusped ogee-headed lights and panel tracery. Sill-string beneath chancel and north aisle windows. Vestry has board door to south, in shouldered opening, and 2-light chamfered mullion window to north, in chamfered opening. Westernmost bay of north side has reset C15 traceried door in moulded 2-centred arched doorway. Windows are of 2 cinquefoiled lights in square-headed double chamfered openings; those in eastern bays have ogee heads with panel tracery above embattled transoms, the others 2-centred heads and mouchette tracery. South side repeats north side, with pointed south door of six raised and fielded panels in re-used moulded doorway. All windows and doorways have hoodmoulds on block corbels. 3-stage embattled and buttressed tower has 4-light west window in pointed chamfered opening beneath hoodmould on foliate stops. Belfry openings to north and south are paired louvred lights with trefoiled heads, deeply recessed in splayed round-arched openings; to west, restored canopied niche containing a statue of St Sampson. Each face on third stage has opening of 3 trefoiled lights, blocked below chamfered transom by stone panels pierced by cross-loops, louvred above, and with panel tracery in the 4-centred head. Aisle windows are of 3 lights in chamfered openings with 2-centred heads, that to north with cusped intersecting tracery, that to south with cinquefoiled lights and panel tracery. INTERIOR: 5-bay north and south arcades of double chamfered pointed arches on octagonal piers with moulded capitals and chamfered bases, westernmost columns attached to tower piers. Tower piers are octagonal and ogee-stopped on to square chamfered bases. Tower arches die into piers, inner order to east arch springing from heraldic demi-angels. Single order rere-arch to west window springs from similar angel to north, and from defaced angel wing to south. Pointed board door in narrow doorway beneath hoodmould at east end of south aisle leads to vestry. At east end of north aisle, trefoil-headed piscina. In blocking of chancel arch, east side, reset octagonal stoup with pendant base and lead lined basin in arched recess: shaped marble tablet commemorating church rebuilding in 1848. Benefaction board in architrave with broken pedimented head, repainted in 1844. C19 roofs incorporating re-used C15 bosses. (City of York: RCHME: The Central Area: HMSO: 1981-: 44-46). Listing NGR: SE6038651911