St Michael le Belfrey, York

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…

In 2018, The Belfrey (as it is commonly known) embarked on a major repair and reordering programme that will involve significant interventions and alterations to the Grade I listed building. This will involve the introduction of a gallery within the nave of the church building and the removal of the historic Victorian seating, creating a "contemporary" aesthetic on the historic gothic style building, with modern-style reversible structures inserted within the 500-year-old structure and alongside earlier architectural features. The entrance area will house a servery, providing refreshments, while a meeting space and toilets will be provided by building partitions in the historic church. A…