Treasurer's House, York

The office of Treasurer to York Minster was established in 1091 by Archbishop Thomas of Bayeux, and as the controller of the Minster's finances the Treasurer needed a residence grand enough to entertain important guests. Of that first house, only an external wall — now part of Grays Court — survives with certainty, along with sections of 12th-century masonry in the present building whose original position is uncertain. The house served its purpose until 1547, when the Reformation brought the role of Treasurer to an end; the last Treasurer surrendered the house to the Crown on 26 May, and it was granted to Protector Somerset, who sold it to Archbishop Robert Holgate.

The shape of the house you see today is largely the work of Archbishop Thomas Young, who held office between 1561 and 1568, and his descendants. In the early 17th century the Young family added the symmetrical front and almost entirely rebuilt the house, and in 1617 Sir George Young entertained James I here. Afterwards the property passed through a number of private owners, including Lord Fairfax, and was eventually sub-divided into separate tenements.

Its rescue came from Frank Green, a wealthy local industrialist, who bought up each part of the house between 1897 and 1898 and appointed Temple Moore to restore it and remove numerous earlier additions. The work was largely finished by 1900, in time for a visit that June from Prince Albert Edward, Princess Alexandra of Denmark and Princess Victoria. When Green retired and left York in 1930, he gave the house and its contents to the National Trust — the first time both a private home and its original furnishings had been given to the Trust together.

Harry Martindale's account is unusual for how little it changed. Over the course of a long life he recounted the experience many times, never altering any of the details, and always refused payment for telling it. He was so shaken at the time that it was several weeks before he returned to the job.

There is a curious postscript. The details he gave of the soldiers' dress were at first dismissed as anomalous. Many years later, excavations in the city revealed that his descriptions matched those of soldiers who took over the Roman garrison in the 4th century. The house was also visited in the first episode of the Discovery Channel series Ghosthunters.

Treasurer's House is open to the public for an admission fee, and free to National Trust members. The garden and the Below Stairs Café are free to enter, which makes it an easy pause on a walk around Minster Yard even if you are not touring the rooms themselves.

Cellar and attic tours are available depending on the time of year, so it is worth checking before you travel if the cellar — and the Roman column base that still stands in situ there — is what has drawn you. The house stands in Minster Yard, directly north of York Minster.