FR. ANDREW’S RETIREMENT FR ANDREW WRITES: Warmest greetings to the congregations at St James the Deacon and All Saints North Street. I'm delighted to share this photo with you, showing what I spent your most generous leaving presents on. Retirement, they say, means you can put your feet up - thanks to you I now have this exceedingly comfortable reclining armchair. Thank you so much! St Helen St Helen has an obvious local link with the City of York—every ancient Parish South of Fulford, between the Ouse and the Derwent (with the possible exception of Sutton on Derwent) was dedicated to St Helen. (Riccall is now St Mary’s, but historians have suggested that its original dedication was in fact St Helen and St Mary). Of the several Churches dedicated to St Helen in the City, one prominent one survives on the edge of St Helen’s square—others were St Helen’s Fishergate, and St Helen-on-the-walls. While it may seem that our own connection is more tenuous—All Saints would include St Helen—the site of our own Church would have been well known to the Saint. As one archaeologist put it, “We are just down the hill from the Imperial Palace, where she once lived!” Three emperors lived in York. The same archaeologist speculated that if any of the medieval Churches marked the site of the Roman Cathedral, it was probably All Saints North Street! This year, we celebrate the Feast of St Helen, according to the Eastern (and modern Anglican) calendar. On the Eve, we celebrate with a service of Choral Evensong. We may not be well known as a venue for Evensong in recent years, though before the war, that was the normal Sunday afternoon Service here, but this service has been transferred from another venue. Having said that, it is a very great pleasure to welcome The Laudate Singers who will sing Stamford in C at 7.30 on Wednesday 20th May, together with an anthem by Hoyle. The Laudate Singers have previously sung in various cathedrals, as well as at Westminster Abbey. Should this prove popular, then it may be possible to sing evensong on future occasions. The Parish and Shrine Church of All Saints North Street, York Quarterly NEWSLETTER May—July 2015 Parish Priest Vacant www.allsaintsnorthstreet.org.uk Contact the churchwardens c/o: birkhillfarm@btinternet.com 01904, 728122 07718749959 Archaeology So far, it seems Fr Andrew is irreplaceable! While the Bishop suggested at the Annual Church Meeting that he had some thoughts about the future provision for the Parish, so far we have nothing concrete to report. Following the Annual Church, and Vestry Meetings, Robert and Jill remain Churchwardens; Bill has agreed to do one more year as Secretary, and Charles remains Treasurer. However, looking to the future, Bill has indicated that he feels the time has come for him to retire at the next Annual Meeting, and in due course we may need volunteers for the post of Churchwarden—perhaps a year “shadowing” to get to know what is involved? After last years exciting excavations outside the North Door, we are pleased to welcome back The York Archaeological Trust this Summer to continue their fascinating work. Having removed most of the post-mediaeval deposits already, we wait with baited breath to see what lies beneath the site of the old Church Hall, where the mediaeval Rectory once stood. One slight complication is that a large part of the site contains a number of 19th century burials, which we do not wish to disturb. However, the spoil from laying drains, and digging wall footings, in the late 19th century, has been found to contain a variety of artefacts, from medieval dice to Roman coins, from Norman roof tiles to Viking Pottery, and decorated Roman Samian ware. The “Dig will be open for viewing on Saturday July 18th, the day of our Medieval Festival, when we commemorate Emma Roughton’s prophetic Visions of Our Lady in 1421. We also hope to have another open day on September 12th as part of the national “Heritage Open Days programme. York’s gem Beautiful church + Beautiful liturgy