North Transept of York Minster

Built by John le Romeyn the North Transept is dominated by the Five Sisters window. The five Sisters is a memorial to women, the worlds largest lancet window and is made of Grisaille glass. The North Transept is decorated quite ornately. It is also home to the Hindley Clock.

The Five Sisters Window

The Five Sisters window is a memorial to the many women who lost lost their lives in the two World Wars.

Located on the North wall, it is called a lancet window. It has five slender windows that rise upward to a height of 17 metres. This makes it the largest lancet window in the world.

The window is filled with Grisaille glass. Grisaille is French for grey which the colour glass looks. It is decorated with leaves of the Geum plant, which was used in the middle ages for its supposed healing qualities.

The window features in the Charles Dickens novel "Nicholas Nickleby". Additionally it is said "a vision of five sisters sewing" was the origin of its name.

Ornate Decoration

The decoration within the North transept seems more elaborate than that of the South transept. This suggests it was built later around 1255 - 1260. Look for the more ornate capitals (the top) and beasts on the shafts high above.

The Hindley Clock

Also in the North Transept is the Hindley Clock. It was made by a local clockmaker Henry Hindley in 1749. The two oak carved figures, called "quarter jacks" strike the quarter hour). These figures are called Gog and Magog and are estimated to be more than 400 years old.