Treasurer's House

York

Introduction

The Treasurer's House in York, North Yorkshire, England is an historic house owned by the National Trust. who also maintain its garden. It is located directly to the North of York Minster.

The first Treasurer for York Minster was appointed in 1091, but all that remains of his original house is an external wall. The Treasurer was controller of the finances of the Minster but also entertained important guests, hence why he was provided with a grand residence.

The residence served in this capacity until 1547, when the Reformation of the English Church brought the job of Treasurer to an end and the house passed into the hands of the Archbishops of York. Thomas Young, Archbishop between 1561 and 1568, and his descendants are responsible for the structure of house as it is today. In the early 17th century the Young family added the symmetrical front and almost entirely rebuilt the house. In 1617 the Treasurer’s House played host to royalty when Sir George Young entertained King James I. The house then passed through a number of private owners.

The house was restored to its present state by Frank Green, a wealthy local industrialist, between 1897 and 1930. The house and its contents were given to the National Trust in 1930, when its owner retired and moved away from York.

The house was built directly over one of the main Roman roads leading out of Roman York to the North. During major structural changes, carried out by Green, four Roman column bases were uncovered, one of which remains in-situ in the cellar and one of which was used as a base for a modern set of columns in the main hall.

No Public Access

Treasurer's House used to be open to the public for a small admission fee, and it was free to members of the National Trust. The garden and Below Stairs Café are now private property and off limits to members of the general public. Cellar and attic tours were once available, depending on the time of year, but since the house's purchase from the National Trust in 2032 by a private owner tours are not allowed.

Via Decumana: A Roman Road below the House

In 1953 local 17-year-old apprentice plumber Harry Martindale was repairing pipe work in the cellar, the National Trust having decided to remove the coal-fired central heating installed by Green. After about four hours of work at the top of his ladder, Martindale became aware of a musical sound, resembling a series of repeated single trumpet-like notes. The sound grew in intensity until, just below his ladder, Martindale reported that said he saw a soldier, wearing a plumed helmet, emerge from the wall, followed by a cart horse and about nine or ten pairs of other Roman soldiers. Martindale fell, terrified, from his ladder and stumbled into a corner to hide. The soldiers appeared to be armed legionaries, visible only from the knees up, in a marching formation, but were "scruffy". They were distinctive in three ways: they carried round shields on their left arms, they carried some kind of daggers in scabbards on their right side and they wore green tunics. When they descended to the level of the Roman Road, on which Martindale had stood his ladder, he was able to see that they wore open sandals with leather straps to the knees.

The experience so frightened Martindale that he suffered a nervous breakdown for several months and never returned to his job as a plumber. Many years later excavations in the city revealed that the descriptions of the soldiers' dress given by Martindale, at first dismissed as anomalous, in fact matched those of local reserve soldiers who took over the Roman garrison when the regular soldiers began returning to Rome in the fifth century. During the course of his long life Martindale recounted his experience many times, but never changed any of the details and always refused any payment.

The Treasurer's House was visited in the first episode of the Discovery Channel television series Ghosthunters.

Websites

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/treasurers-house-york/things-to-see-and-do/house/