Revealed: When the sculpture of Gerald the York Minster cat will go on permanent display

Update on 25 August 2021 – This event has been postponed with more details to follow later.

Cathedral cat Gerald of York lived within the precinct of York Minster with his cat brother Donald and his human family, Justine, Samuel and Elise.

Affectionately known as the York Minster cat by locals and tourists alike, he regularly patrolled the area around the Minster until he died on 14 September.

Gerald’s owners then received condolences from all over the world. One of them was from Larry the cat, one of the residents at 10 Downing Street.

Gerald was buried by his family within the Minster precinct. Donald came to the ceremony.

Money was raised by Gerald’s friends to commission a memorial sculpture of him.

That is now part of York’s Cat Trail, hosted by The Cat Gallery in Low Petergate.

Now YorkMix can reveal the date that the sculpture will be installed in its final forever home.

Final home

Gerald’s sculpture, by York-based Anthony Bartyla, founder of The Raven And The Hare Stone Carving in York, will move to the grounds of a church that featured in the BBC TV series Gentleman Jack.

The final resting place will Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, in York, a place Gerald liked to explore.

The installation will take place at 12 Noon on Tuesday 31 August.

Gerald’s friends and family are incredibly grateful to be joined by special guest, the Yorkshire Vet, Julian Norton.

Justine Spencer, Gerald’s owner, told YorkMix Radio‘s Late Show: “He will be positioned between two benches on the right hand side of the path and I think it will be appropriate to put him next to a bench because that’s what he used to do.

“He used to sort of hang around, waiting for people to sit down and let him steal their lunch.

“It’s going be a lasting tribute to Gerald. The sculputure is in the same stone as the church itself. So it will weather accordingly and hopefully blend in more and more as time goes on.

“People can sit at those benches in the church yard and remember him and kind of hang out with Gerald which will be really really nice.”

Holy Trinity Goodramgate has the air of a hidden treasure. It stands in a small, secluded, leafy churchyard, with the Minster towering behind, tucked away behind Goodramgate – one of York’s busiest shopping streets.

To visit, you pass through an 18th-century archway tacked on to buildings that served as artisans’ workshops in the 14th century.

The church itself is full of character. The floors and arcades are charmingly uneven. Light filters through the windows, illuminating honey-coloured stone.

The building dates chiefly from the 15th century, but has features from its foundation in the 12th century right up to the 19th century. The box pews, unique in York, are exceptionally fine, and an interesting collection of monuments and memorials paint a picture of life in this busy city throughout the ages.