[This is the third of a series of articles giving a brief
description of each of the 26 ancient Anglican cathedrals coupled with a sketch
of a person, activity or institution connected to the area]
The City of York
is one of the great tourist highlights of England. Impressive city walls, a
medieval quarter including The Shambles with numerous ancient churches to
delight the eye, but above all the renowned York Minster constituting a peerless glory of Gothic architecture.
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| York Minster |
The Minster (the name given in England
to many large churches) is the second largest Gothic building in Northern Europe after Cologne. The Minster we now see is the third
building on the site and was built between 1220 and 1472. It is truly massive, reminiscent
of Amiens, with
an enormously wide central nave: the central vault is of painted wood while the
aisles are vaulted in stone.
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| The cleared Nave at York Minster |
The Minster has been unlucky in its history with the
financial blow of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1535, a damaging siege
in the Civil War in 1644, a crumbling building fabric and numerous fires – a recent
one in 1984 caused by a lightning strike, characterised by Anglican Evangelicals
as God’s judgement on the High
Church practices of the
Minster! But many treasures have survived; the remarkable East window from the
early 15th century is the largest expanse of medieval stained glass
in the world: the sumptuous early Decorated Gothic Chapter House has no central
support but rests on its walls; all in all, a lovely place.
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| York Minster, The Chapter House |
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The city of York prospered in
earlier times from the trade in wool, with raw wool being exported to the weavers
in Northern Europe. In the 19th
century it became famous in Britain
as a centre of the confectionery trade, in particular renowned for its
chocolate. The beginnings were very modest. Joseph Rowntree senior, a leading
Quaker and later mayor of York, ran a small-time
grocer’s shop in Pavement, central York.
In the 1840’s Rowntree had apprenticed to him two young Quakers, George Cadbury
and Lewis Fry, members of two other pioneering chocolate families – Fry’s,
based in Bristol, invented the first chocolate bar in 1847 while Cadbury’s,
based in Birmingham, became famous for their Dairy Milk chocolate.
The Quakers were respected as shop-keepers as they upheld
ethical standards. Before 1860 trading regulations, food was often sold in
short measure or was adulterated with various filling agents. Quakers had
suffered for their beliefs and were considered more than usually honest, so
people preferred to patronise their shops. Quakers were attracted to the cocoa
and chocolate business because it was not involved in alcohol which they
deplored. Anyhow Joseph Rowntree senior’s two sons Isaac and Joseph junior
branched out into the manufacture of chocolate. Joseph junior came to be the
dominant figure in the business from 1869 and later employed 4,000 people in his
York factories.
Using the developing network of the railways – York being an important railway hub –
Rowntree products became well-known in the North of
England
and later nationally. In the fullness of time, delicious Rowntree brands like Kit-Kat, Aero, Smarties and Yorkie
became recognised and cherished everywhere. A merger with Halifax-based
Mackintosh in 1969 brought the Quality Street, Rolo and Toffee Crisp brands into the
company. Mackintosh had effectively invented the “toffee” by mixing the traditional
English butterscotch with American caramel – giving pleasure to young and old but
nightmares to dentists.
The Rowntrees were not just businessmen but were also
generous and thoughtful philanthropists. Joseph Rowntree set up several
charitable trusts in 1904 to assist the poor and the elderly. He cared for his
workforce and introduced many welfare benefits for his staff. He was a Liberal
supporter and with his son Seebohm was a friend of Lloyd George and influenced
Liberal social policies. Seebohm’s authoritative reports on poverty in York introduced the
concept of the “poverty line”.
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| Joseph Rowntree |
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| Seebohm Rowntree |
The other great chocolatier of York was Joseph Terry, first established in 1828 and manufacturer of various confectionery including Terry’s Chocolate Orange and All Gold – that splendid box of chocolates you groped about in the theatre to sample but in the darkness picked up the nut cracknel when you wanted the strawberry cream!
The third York
confectioner was Cravens, less well-known but long established. It ceased to
trade in the 1960s and when its York
factory was finally demolished, a Viking settlement, packed full of artefacts
was found beneath it. After extensive excavations the Jorvik Viking Centre was
opened in 1984, giving visitors an exciting interactive time-warp experience,
returning to Viking York at 5.30pm on 25 October AD 975!
Sad to relate, the great era of Quaker chocolate-makers is
long gone. Kit-Kat is still made in York
but in 1988 the company was bought by the Swiss Nestlé. Fry’s (Chocolate
Cream, Turkish Delight) had been acquired in 1919 by Cadburys (Dairy Milk, Crunchie, Cadburys Flake etc)
until Cadburys itself fell to Kraft Foods in 2010 and is now owned by Mondelez
International. Kraft had already devoured Terry’s in 1993, after it had been
bought by United Biscuits and then Suchard.
It is not sensible to get too aerated about the global trade
in brands and maybe some will return to British food giants. York will nevertheless always miss the employment opportunities
chocolate brought, the local philanthropy of the upright owners and the glamour
of their iconic brands.
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| Kit-Kat, made in York but not by Rowntrees |
SMD
21.10.12
Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2012
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