250 yrs. The current Gothic-style church was intended to be the kingdom's largest cathedral. It was constructed during a 250-year period, between 1220 and 1472. Its size is unprecedented: it contains over 7,000 tons of stone and has a total length of. The original plan for York Minster was for there to be three identical brick churches built one after another on the same site. But the third one never got built because the king who wanted it had his head cut off before it was completed. So now there is only one Gothic cathedral in York: the Minster. It took builders hundreds of hours to construct this magnificent building. They began work on the site in 1220 and didn't stop until 1472, almost 300 years later. The main entrance is through a great west door that weighs more than 20 tons and takes up to 10 men to open or close. Inside the church are hundreds of pounds of wax flowers set into the floor in front of the tombs of famous people from York's past. You can see all these and more at the Minster during regular opening times which are listed on its website. There are some amazing things to see inside the church including the nave ceiling which has been called "the most perfect representation of God's creation ever conceived by human mind and imagination".