The present chancel was built about 1886 on the site of the great central tower of the original priory church. Three very distinct figures were seen, always in broad daylight, and generally during the hours of morning service. One of the figures, referred to as the mother, was tall and graceful, eighteen to twenty years of age, her face covered with a fine lace veil. This was the figure who showed such affection and despair. The second figure was described as a nursemaid, showing loving care of a child which she brings to the mother.
Legend says that a father, mother and child lived near the church.
When the father died, he was buried near the east window, but the child, dying later, had to be buried outside the city walls because of plague regulations. In 1957, an incident occurred which was reported to Mr. John Mitchell, the author of ' Ghosts of an Ancient City' by a teacher of religious knowledge in a local school. This lady, during one of York's festivals, was showing a keen historian round some of the ancient churches of York. About nine o'clock in the evening, the two ladies came to Holy Trinity Church in the gathering dusk, neither of them knowing of the traditions of haunting connected with the building. As the historian examined the monuments and the fabric of the building, her friend stood, somewhat tired, in the crossing at the west end of the church, underneath the place where the gallery used to be.