York Historic Environment Record

The guilds of St. Christopher and St. George were apparently united during the later 15th century, but the exact date is unknown; their work is discussed elsewhere in the volume. St. Christopher's Guild is not known to have possessed a hall, but in 1445 it agreed to share with the corporation the cost of rebuilding the city's Guildhall and in return was entitled to use the hall on certain days each year. In 1445, too, the guild received from the corporation a grant of land adjoining the Guildhall site; it was on this land, fronting upon Coney Street, that the guild subsequently built its chapel and maison dieu. The chapel, much altered, later became the 'Cross Keys' public house, and in 1726 the Mansion House was built on the site.

A History of the County of York: the City of York. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1961. p.483

To the south of the Common Hall Gates stood St Christopher's Chapel. Gent, writing in 1730, says 'where the famous house for our Lord Mayors Anno 1726 now stands, in part of that ground towards the gateway was formerly a chapel dedicated to St Christopristopher'. Gent had not seen the chapel itself, but only the altered building, a tavern called the Criss Keys. We know nothing of its internal arrangement or ornaments. In 1407 there were two chaplains serving it. St Chrisopher guild maintained a maison dieu for old and infirm persons. It is mentioned in a will in 1455. In 1532 Leonard Shaw leaves 3s 4d to be equally divided amongst the beadmen and women. It is not known where the building stodd; it may have been on the north die of the Common Hall Gates.

Raine, A., 1955. Medieval York. p140-141

On 20 November 1445, two agreements were signed between the Mayor and the Corporation and the St Christopherguild. The first was for the building of the Guildhall in Coney Street, with the cost of repair and maintenace divided between the guild and the city. In recognition, the guild had the right to occupy the hall, pantry and buttery for five days before and four days after the feast of St James. The seond deed granted te guild the land between the Guildhall and Coney Street, reserving the right of entry to the Guildhasll through the centre, that bacame known as the Common Hall Gates. On this land the St Christopher Guild built a chapel and other houses that included a maison dieu, and a kitchen that served the Guildhall. The chapel was built by 1448, when the guild was granted a papl licence to heve its newly built chapel in Coney Street, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and St Christopher, consecrated by the bishop.

White, E. The St Christopher and St George Guild of York. Borthwick Papers.

NMR Information

Medieval religious houses in England and Wales 1971 by David Knowles and R Neville Hadcock p409
A history of Yorkshire: the city of York 1961 edited by P M Tillott p483

Victoria County History, 1961, A History of the County of York: the City of York (Bibliographic reference). SYO1174.

NMR, 2019, NMR data (Digital archive). SYO2214.