York Minster combines more than 2,000 years of history with an active place of worship, visitor attraction, learning programme and conservation estate. These statistics cover its public access, architecture, community, finances, wartime history and environmental work, with each figure identified by the relevant York Minster source and period.
Contents
- At a glance
- Opening, tickets and access
- History, scale and stained glass
- Worship, learning and the estate
- Visitors and annual-report finances
- Solar energy and environmental milestones
- War memorials and protection
At a glance
| Measure | Statistic | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| Open days | 365 days a year | Visit page |
| Central Tower climb | 275 steps | Visit page |
| Estate size | 7 hectares | Sustainability page |
| Worshippers in a year | 150,000 | Sustainability page |
| 2022 visitors | Almost 621,000 | 2022 report page |
| Solar panels in the new roof installation | 184 | Solar panels article |
| Solar output from that installation | 70,000 kWh | Solar panels article |
| 2023 total net assets | £54,617,000 | 2023 report page |
The figures describe different aspects of York Minster and do not all refer to the same measurement year. In particular, the visitor and financial figures come from annual reports for 2021, 2022 and 2023, while access and building statistics come from visitor, sustainability and history pages.
Opening, tickets and access
York Minster is open 365 days a year according to the Visit page. The homepage schedule lists first admission at 9:30 am and last admission at 4:00 pm. Those times describe the published admission schedule rather than the length of an individual visit.
General ticket prices range from £13 to £28, as stated on the Visit page. The range indicates different general admission prices within the published ticket information; it is not a single standard price for every visitor or ticket type. A sightseeing ticket is valid for a full calendar year, extending the value of admission beyond one day.
The same Visit page says that each sightseeing ticket includes entry for four children aged 17 and under. York residents and York students can enter free with valid identification, according to the Homepage. These provisions make the published price range only one part of the access picture: eligibility and ticket type change what a visitor pays.
The Central Tower climb contains 275 steps, according to the Visit page. That is a fixed physical feature of the climb, separate from the admission schedule and sightseeing-ticket validity. Together, the access figures show a site designed for both regular public entry and a more demanding elevated route.
History, scale and stained glass
York Minster’s origin story dates from the 7th century, according to the Homepage, while the Visit page describes its story as spanning more than 2,000 years of history. These statements use different measures of time: one refers to the origin story of the Minster, and the other to the longer historical story associated with the site.
The solar panels article describes the Minster as an 800-year-old building. That description is retained here as the wording of that source, rather than treated as an independently reconciled construction date. The different historical figures therefore need to be read in context instead of combined into one precise age.
The Five Sisters Window was completed around 1250 and is made up of five lancets, according to the Five Sisters story. Each lancet is over 16 metres high and 1.5 metres wide. The dimensions help explain the scale of the window: its five repeated vertical sections are each taller than a typical multi-storey building, while remaining relatively narrow.
Helen Little’s appeal sought £3,000 for restoration. Within weeks, the appeal attracted 32,000 subscribers. The restored window was unveiled on 24 June 1925, and the unveiling was attended by 800 relatives of the women commemorated. The memorial roll names 1,514 women, giving the window a commemorative as well as architectural scale.
Worship, learning and the estate
The Sustainability page records 150,000 worshippers in a year. It also lists 279 people on the Worshipping Community Roll. These are different measures: the first is an annual attendance figure, while the second is the size of the named worshipping community recorded by the Minster.
York Minster sits within a 7-hectare estate, according to the Sustainability page. The estate figure places the building within a wider managed setting rather than measuring only the footprint of the Minster itself. The same source records that the learning team’s Creative Creation workshop had bookings from 26 schools, showing a quantified education reach alongside worship and visitor activity.
The Minster’s Eco Church milestones were recorded over several years. Bronze status was awarded in February 2016, silver status in July 2017, and gold status in May 2025. These are dated recognition points, not a single annual performance score. The sequence indicates progression from bronze to silver and then gold across the dates given by the Sustainability page.
Visitors and annual-report finances
The annual reports show how visitor activity and finances changed across a period that included closure and recovery. The 2021 report says York Minster was closed from December 2020 until 17 May 2021. It records 226,700 visitors in 2021, described as 60% behind the 2019 level. Incoming resources were £7,143,000 in 2021, compared with £6,484,000 in 2020, while total expenditure on mission was £7,948,000.
The 2022 annual report records almost 621,000 visitors. It lists visitor income of £3,878,000 and retail income of £1,337,000. Total expenditure on mission was £10,067,000. Expenditure on major repairs and restoration was £661,000, including £253,000 in materials costs, £264,000 in staff costs and £128,000 in maintenance costs.
Several 2022 cost changes are also reported. Ministry costs rose by £503,000, while service, music and congregational costs increased by £100,000. Printing costs increased by £26,000, and official mourning costs were £27,000. Education and outreach costs decreased by £44,000. The report also records a net loss on equity investments of £3,507,000 and total net assets of £50,911,000.
The 2023 annual report records a net surplus of £2,701,000, compared with £329,000 in 2022 and £805,000 in 2021. Visitor income increased by £1,390,000 to £5,268,000, while retail income increased by £200,000 to £1,537,000. Education and outreach expenditure increased by £235,000 to £853,000.
| Annual-report measure | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net surplus | £805,000 | £329,000 | £2,701,000 |
| Visitor income | — | £3,878,000 | £5,268,000 |
| Retail income | — | £1,337,000 | £1,537,000 |
| Total expenditure on mission | £7,948,000 | £10,067,000 | £10,152,000 |
| Total net assets | — | £50,911,000 | £54,617,000 |
The 2023 report also records total expenditure on mission of £10,152,000, net realised and unrealised investment gains of £1,005,000, and total net assets of £54,617,000. The table keeps the years and measures together without treating missing entries as zero or estimating figures that were not supplied.
Solar energy and environmental milestones
The new roof installation included 184 solar panels, according to the Solar panels article. Those panels are expected to generate 70,000 kWh of energy, enough to deliver one-third of the Minster’s electricity requirements. The wording describes the article’s stated generation and proportion; it does not establish a new independently calculated consumption total.
The four solar installations together are reported to generate 120,000 kWh per year. The combined output is described as enough to power 41 average UK homes. The annual unit and household comparison refer to the combined installations, whereas the 70,000 kWh figure refers to the new roof installation.
The solar project’s public consultation lasted 32 weeks. That duration records the consultation period stated in the Solar panels article. Read alongside the 184-panel installation and the 120,000 kWh annual total for four installations, it gives the project a measurable public-engagement and energy dimension.
War memorials and protection
More than 1,470 York men and women were killed in service during the First World War, according to Remembering York’s Fallen. The commemorative book weighs 9st 4lb and measures 71 cm long, 65 cm wide and 22 cm deep. These physical dimensions describe the book itself, while the casualty figure describes the people commemorated.
The Five Sisters memorial roll names 1,514 women, as noted above. The Remembering York’s Fallen figures concern York men and women killed in service during the First World War, so the two totals should not be presented as the same group or added together.
York Minster removed 109 windows for protection during wartime, according to the Protecting stained glass story. The removed windows included the Great East Window, the Five Sisters Window and the Great West Window. The figure of 109 describes the total number removed, while the three named windows identify examples within that protected group.
The 2021 report also records a long-term book value of investments and property of £42.5m and an investment gain of almost £3.3m. It says York Minster’s 2021 neighbourhood plan set a 15-year route map. These figures and the route-map period belong to the 2021 report and should not be read as current forecasts or as a replacement for later annual-report measures.