St William's College and York Minster

Early morning in York. This beautiful timbered medieval building dates from 1465. It was built to provide accommodation for priests attached to York Minster and was closed in 1548 as part of Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. Over the next 500 years the building changed ownership and usage many times. During the Civil War, it was used as the Royal Printing Press and has also been used as a private house, but by the end of the 1800s it had fallen into disrepair. The council restored the building in around 1902, but it has been empty for the last 10 years and is now in need of further refurbishment.