The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-05-22 00:00:00

SECOND EDITION.

Standard-office, half-past Ten o'clock.

BURNING OF YORK MINSTER

We copy the following from a second edition of the Brad-
ford Observer of yesterday, with which we have been po-
litely favoured.

At an early hour this morning, a report reached the town,
that that noble and venerable ecclesiastical edifice, York
Minster, the pride of Yorkshire and the admiration of Eng-
land, was destroyed by fire. This report was not however
credited. People are not generally ready to believe bad news.
But as the day advanced; parties who arrived from Leeds
confirmed the sad story, and at length on the arrival of
the York mail at eleven o'clock, all doubt was set at rest.
A great number of letters have come into the town from
York, but all of them necessarily short. One lying before
us says, " Our beautiful Minster has been on fire. The
whole of the tower which contains the bells, and from
thence to the great tower is one mass of ruins. It is
still burning (one o'clock, A. ni.); but we hope soon to
stop the devastating element." Our correspondent writes
us word that he will send further particulars by ex-
press, but they have not reached us. In the absence of pre-
cise information, it is of course impossible to tell how far the
reports in circulation are to be believed, but all seem to con-
cur in stating that the tire. originated through the careless-
ness of some workmen, plumbers, who neglected to put
out their fire and candles. The fire originated in the
tower at the west end. It was first observed about ten
o'clock last night ; the wind being high the flames spread ra-
pidly, and before any effective assistance could be rendered
the beautiful roof of the nave, constructed of carved oak,
ignited and communicated with the great tower. So quickly
did the devouring element accomplish its work, that in
little better than an hour and a half after the fire
was discovered, one of the towers at the west front fell
with a tremendous crash. We hear that several individuals
were buried in the ruins, but have no authentic intelligence
that the calamity, great as it is, is aggravated by loss of life.

(From a second edition of the York Courant of yesterday
It appears that about a quarter before nine o'clock on
Wednesday night several persons observed a small light in
the south-west tower of this magnificent pile, but did not
take any particular notice of the circumstance, being aware
that the works connected with the clock had been undergoing
repair. In a short time, however, it appeared that the tower
was in flames. The alarm was given, and two powerful
engines were soon on the spot; but, unfortunately, full
twenty minutes elapsed before a supply of water could be
obtained. The flames spread with astonishing rapidity, and
by about eleven o'clock nearly the whole of the roof of the
nave had fallen in. " The Lantern tower was, with great
difficulty, preserved. About half-past twelve, the whole of
the roof having fallen, and two additional engines having
arrived by railway from Leeds, the flames were gradu-
ally surmounted, and between one and two the danger was
over. The south-western tower, with the noble nave are,
however, a mass of ruins. Every pillar in the nave is
more or less injured, and one of the windows near the west-
ern entrance was partially destroyed. The great western win-
dow was, however, entirely preserved, and the others sus-
tained but trifling damage. No injury was done to the screen
or organ. though they were at one time in imminent danger.
The belfry was reduced to a mere shell, and the fine peal of ten
bells fell to the ground. No estimate is given as to the amount
of damage, and nothing is known as to the cause of the fire.
It is supposed to have originated in the carelessness of the
persons employed in repairing the clock. By a singular co-
incidence the south-western tower is that on which the in-
cendiary Martin made his first and:unsuccessful attempt to
fire the cathedral on the 2d of February, 1829.