St Michael le Belfrey, York
church in York, UK
St Michael le Belfrey is an Anglican church in York, England. It is situated at the junction of High Petergate and Minster Yard, directly opposite York Minster, in the centre of the city.
History
The present church building was built between 1525 and 1537 and replaced a church that dated back to at least 1294. The church is famous for being the place where Guy Fawkes was baptised on 16 April 1570. Fawkes later became a Roman Catholic, which led to his involvement in the failed 1605 Gunpowder Plot. The church was also the scene of the wedding of Christopher Levett of York, the English explorer, to Mercy More, daughter of the Revd Robert More of Guiseley, Yorkshire, in 1608. It is sited near to the place where the Emperor Constantine was proclaimed Roman Emperor in 306 AD. Some 14th-century stained glass was retained from the former church, which is now in the east window.
The west front and bellcote date from 1867 and were supervised by the architect George Fowler Jones. The stained glass panels on the front of the building were restored by John Knowles in the early 19th century. The interior contains an elegant reredos in the Baroque style by John Etty of 1702, with contemporary altar rails.
“St Michael le Belfrey, York” enters the record as church in York, UK. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Michael, Belfrey and York can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“St Michael le Belfrey, York” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Michael, Belfrey and York provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7594874. VIAF identifies the subject as 313470908. Authority coordinates are 53.962, -1.083. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1525, 1537, 1294 and 1570.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “St Michael le Belfrey, York”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow St Michael le Belfrey, York primary sources, St Michael le Belfrey, York archive and Michael research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “St Michael le Belfrey, York”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “St Michael le Belfrey, York” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.