ABSTRACT
All the major roofs of York Minster were constructed with timber vaults, instead of the more usual stone vaulting of the Gothic period. The timber vault of the new tower, is the latest of the great timber roofs of the Minster. The roof of the York chapter house is a vast pyramid of timber which is built up in three stages and carries beneath it the timber vaulted ceiling. The bewilderment at the complexity of the timber construction which is apparent on first entering the roof, slowly disappears as the symmetrical pattern. The central post is sixteen inches thick at the first stage, and is made up of three baulks of timber, cut to an octagonal shape, joined by scarfed joints, and pegged with wooden pegs. The only other timber structure of a similar nature which can be compared with the York chapter house is the great octagonal lantern over the crossing at Ely Cathedral.
