On your left, peering past any delivery vans parked in your line of sight, you will spot the York Oratory, an imposing light brick church with a steep, pointed front and a massive square bell tower rising on its right side. Built in 1864, it is officially the Oratory Church of Saint Wilfrid. And let me tell you, Wilfrid was a total firebrand. He was a highly controversial seventh-century bishop who absolutely refused to back down from what he believed. During the Synod of Whitby, a major early church council, he stubbornly championed the Roman method of dating Easter over the local traditions.
Wilfrid had a habit of completely ignoring local politics. If he did not like what the local rulers said, he just went over their heads and appealed directly to the Pope in Rome. This completely infuriated local leaders like King Ecgfrith of Northumbria. The King's wife, Queen Iurminburg, supposedly stirred the pot by whispering stories to her husband about Wilfrid's vast riches and his heavily armed entourage. The result of all this drama was that the king repeatedly exiled and imprisoned the stubborn bishop. That absolute refusal to bow to local authority is just another classic example of the fiercely independent, push-back spirit that runs so deep in this city's history.
Even the building you are looking at is an act of sheer boldness. After centuries where Catholic worship was driven underground, local architect George Goldie designed this magnificent French Gothic masterpiece. He squeezed its imposing 147-foot bell tower into a highly restricted site right across the street from the mighty York Minster, loudly announcing a renewed Catholic presence. Today, it is thriving, drawing large crowds of young people to traditional services like the Latin Mass, which is conducted entirely in Latin with the priest facing the altar.
If you want to peek inside, the church is open every day of the week from eight in the morning until six in the evening. Now, let us head to the Mansion House, a quick three-minute walk away, where we are going to uncover a truly bizarre secret hidden right inside its walls.
