Howden Minster

There has been a church at Howden since Anglo-Saxon times, and it has always been on the same site. Before the Norman Conquest in 1066, it was owned by monks from Peterborough Abbey. But the only remnants from those earlier churches is a Norman corbel table on the east wall of the north transept. The bishops of Durham came into possession of the manor of Howden in 1086–7, during the tenure of William de St-Calais (1081–96). The town and surrounding area benefited from this connection: the bishops secured a weekly market and four annual fairs for Howden before the 13th century. The great income of the parish church meant that it became prebendal in the 1220s, then achieved collegiate status…