A Minster is a church that was established during Anglo Saxon times as a missionary teaching church, or a church attached to a monastery. Today the title is more a recognition of its collegiate connections.
Famous minsters are:
Westminster (Abbey) which is also known as The Collegiate Church of St. Peter. It was founded in 960 on the foundations of a Benedictine monastery. It is unusual in that it also has the title of being a ‘Royal Perogative’ in that it is answerable only to the Sovereign and not an archbishop or bishop. It is called WESTminster as it is on the opposite side of the City of London where its EAST minster is St. Paul’s.
York Minster which is the seat of the Archbishop of York, a title that was created by the Pope in 732, and has become the second most senior position within the Church of England. The present building, in the Gothic style, was started in 1220 and not completed until 1472.
Southwell Minster which was in its early years closely associated with York as one of its collegiate churches. It was the first Archbishop of York, Paulinus, who it is thought founded the church in 627. It was not until 1884 that the Minster was given full status as a cathedral to the county of Nottinghamshire.
