The north of England was a very religious area for much of its history. Its earliest and most famous saints, Aidan and Cuthbert, were both associated with the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne in the 7th century. The island became a place of pilgrimage. After the Vikings raided Lindisfarne, the monks eventually settled, with Cuthbert’s relics, at Durham, where a great medieval cathedral and monastery grew up around them.

During the late medieval period, Durham and York were the most important centres of Christianity in the north. York’s cathedral contained the relics of St William of York, archbishop in the 12th century. He died in York after returning from exile in Winchester. On his return, a bridge carrying thousands of people waiting to welcome him collapsed, but no-one was hurt. This was regarded as a miracle and William was later made a saint.

An early shrine, containing a silver coffin for William’s bones, was replaced in 1472, to celebrate the re-consecration of York Minster. The new marble shrine was designed by Robert Spillesby, master mason from 1466 to 1473, with the help of 28 other marble carvers. The shrine, with all other shrines in the diocese of York, was destroyed in 1541, following Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries.