St George's Church website has a history of the church:
During Penal times the Catholics of York had to worship secretly in private houses and even on occasion, breaking into the castle to attend mass celebrated by the priests in prison there. During the 18th Century, mass was celebrated in the Shakespeare Tavern in Little Blake Street as well as in the Bar Convent, but in 1802, St Wilfrid’s Chapel was built to serve the York congregation. This soon proved inadequate and an impressive new church was envisaged, however, the influx of Irish immigrants into Walmgate made it necessary to build St George’s church.
It was designed by Charles & Joseph Hansom in Early Decorated style at a cost of £3,550. The foundation stone was laid on 25th October 1849 and it opened on 4th September 1850.
With the restoration of the hierarchy one month later the See of Beverley was created and St George’s became the cathedral church for the whole of Yorkshire, a status it enjoyed until the present St Wilfrid’s was built in 1864.
The altar is of Caen stone and was moved forward from its original position in 1972. Another notable feature is the Rood Screen, a fine wood carving of Flemish work now positioned over the sacristy door. The East Window is based upon a Pugin design and the memorial windows of the Lady Chapel were made & decorated by the Barrett family, and financed by the Palmes of Naburn, the Dolmans of Pocklington and the Coxes of Herefordshire.
The church takes its title from the medieval church of St George at Beanhills which was suppressed in 1547. The Churchyard may still be seen opposite the present church and is the burial place of Dick Turpin, the notorious 18th Century highwayman.
A building fund of £1200 had been raised to build new church in York this was to replace a brick chapel that was situated in Little Blake Street (now Duncombe Place)
Due to the Potato Famine in Ireland there had been a big influx of Irish immigrants into the Walmgate area and it was felt that the new church should be built in this location.
So in 1849 a piece of land was bought opposite the ancient site of St. George’s churchyard, in George Street.
The architects for the church were Joseph and Charles Hansom (formerly of York) designers of the popular hansom cab. The church is in Early Decorated style and built in Tadcaster stone.
The church was commenced in October 1849, the builder being R Weatherley of Micklegate, Messrs Bookles and Ashmore being responsible for joinery and ironwork.
On the 25th Oct 1849 the foundation stone was laid and 4000 people attended this ceremony.
On Wednesday 4th September 1850 St. George’s church was opened with great ceremony and many dignitaries attending.
On the 13th of February 1851 the solemn enthronement of Dr Briggs as the first Bishop of Beverley took place at St. George’s church. The diocese of Beverly encompassed the whole of Yorkshire.
The church is a Grade II listed building with the entry at the English Heritage website telling us:
Roman Catholic church, rectory, gates and railings. Church 1849-50, Rectory 1856; church altered and restored in 1901 and 1923, further restored and re-ordered in 1989-90. By Joseph and Charles Hansom.
MATERIALS: church of magnesian limestone ashlar, cement-rendered in places; Welsh slate roof in three parallel ranges, with brick stack to sacristy. Rectory of white brick in English garden-wall bond with ashlar dressings; brick stacks and stone coping to slate roof. PLAN: chancel with west bellcote, south chapel, and north sacristy; 5-bay aisled nave with south porch. Church is encircled by 2-stage buttresses with offsets.
EXTERIOR: CHURCH: east end: twin-gabled front with 1-storey 2-bay sacristy on high basement to north. 4-centred east window of 4 trefoiled lights, 2-centred chapel window of 3 trefoiled lights, both with traceried heads and hoodmoulds on foliate stops. Sacristy has blocked doorway between 2- and 3-light mullion windows, all in chamfered openings with shouldered heads: inserted flat-topped dormer with 4 pivoting windows, and ridge stack. Gabled and buttressed bellcote on chamfered plinth has paired trefoiled openings and quatrefoil in apex. North side: largely obscured by Rectory and sacristy. Sacristy has single shouldered light in north gable and chamfered shouldered doorway in west return. South side: buttressed and gabled porch has boarded double doors in pointed opening of 2 continuously moulded orders beneath hoodmould on foliate stops: returns have square-headed windows of paired lights with cusped ogee heads. Nave windows are of 2 trefoiled lights, chapel window to east 3, lights, all with traceried 2-centred heads and head-stopped hoodmoulds. Buttress to west of chapel has gabled niche housing figure of St George carved in the round. West end: triple-gabled. West doorway has boarded double doors in 2-centred arch of two orders with filleted columns and foliate capitals, and head-stopped hoodmould above. West window of 3 lights, aisle windows of 2 lights, all trefoiled and all with hoodmoulds on head stops. Nave gable end has sexfoiled light beneath hoodmould, aisles trefoil lights in triangular surrounds. All window tracery is Geometrical; openings are chamfered and quoined. Chancel, bellcote, porch and nave and aisle west ends have gable crosses. At west end, square section gate piers with pyramidal caps approximately 2.25m. high flank gates approximately 1.75m. high. Gates incorporate bands of concentric circles, scrolls, and pierced rails. Railings of same design, approximately .75m., high on low stone wall. Gate and railings on south side have spear tips, and gates hang from posts with tapered octagonal finials.
RECTORY: George Street front: 2 storeys on chamfered basement plinth: 2 gabled bays, left bay with attic. Entrance in left return, to Peel Street. Ground and first floor windows are of 3 mullioned and transomed lights, those on ground floor with 2-centred heads; attic window is of 2 mullioned lights with casements. Moulded first floor band continued on Peel Street front, and moulded gable coping. Peel Street front: basement and 3 storeys; 2 bays with irregular fenestration: lower 3-storey wing to left. Square-headed doorcase in wing, with sunk-panel door in 4-centred arch and spandrels carved with shields of the cross of St George set in foliage. To left, paired 1-pane sashes with stone sill and flat brick arch. Main front has full-height stack in right bay, and 2-light windows in left bay: paired 1-pane sashes on ground floor, mullioned and transomed on first floor, and single casement beneath the eaves. All window surrounds are square-headed and quoined and chamfered: mullions are chamfered.
INTERIOR: OF CHURCH: 4-centred double chamfered chancel arch with head-stopped hoodmould, on clustered columns with moulded capitals and bases. North and south arcades of 2-centred double chamfered arches on octagonal piers with moulded capitals and bases. Lady Chapel screen of 3 gabled bays of paired trefoiled lights with traceried heads, between foliate colonnettes: centre opening flanked by winged angel corbels. Gables are crocketed, centre one surmounted by pedestal housing canopied image of the Virgin and Child, the outer ones by crocketed finials. Octagonal font on square pedestal with panels carved in high relief and cover of clustered volutes. Reconstructed altars incorporating communion rail marble in Sanctuary and pulpit marble in Lady Chapel: marble given by Irish dealers from the cattle market formerly held in the Fishergate area. Glass: east window by Hardman possibly designed by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin: Lady Chapel by Barnett and Sons. Roofs: nave and aisle roofs are scissor-braced and chancel ceiling coffered and painted.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: cast-iron gates and railings.
HISTORICAL NOTE: the medieval church of St George at Beanhills, suppressed in 1547, formerly stood in the surviving graveyard on the west side of George Street. The present church of St George was used as temporary Pro-Cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Beverley until replaced in 1864 by the church of St Wilfrid in Lop Lane, now Duncombe Place.
Mass and service times are listed on the church's website.