From Fanatic to Lunatic: Jonathon Martin, the man who burned York Minster.
After the ending of the regular Sunday worship at York Minster, on Sunday February 1st, 1829, worshippers left for their homes and the heavy church doors were shut and locked. Yet, one person remained. A hooded figure lurking in the cold, dark shadows. When all was completely quiet, the phantom-like figure moved to the front of the church and set a fire using velvet and tassels from the bishop’s pews which, together with torn pages from hymn books, kindled the blaze. Through the night, the conflagration caused huge destruction to the magnificent medieval structure.
The arsonist left the church by breaking a window and lowering himself to the ground below using one of the bell ropes.
When the fire was finally extinguished a day or so later the obvious question arose: Who would do such a thing?
The answer was actually close at hand.
Jonathon Martin
The culprit responsible for the awful destruction was a man whose life told of the turbulent times of early Nineteenth Century England as well as of a religious fervour that reflected an extreme fundamentalism, in many ways a parallel to the political and religious extremism so widely evident today.
