The Very Reverend Michael Yorke
Dean of Lichfield whose installation of a retractable altar platform uncovered the ‘Lichfield Angel’
THE VERY REVEREND MICHAEL YORKE, who has died aged 80, was for most of his ministry associated in turn with four English cathedrals. Having been Vice-provost of Chelmsford, an Honorary Canon of Norwich and Provost of Portsmouth, he was appointed Dean of Lichfield in 1999.
Unlike his predecessor at Lichfield, Dr NT Wright, Yorke was not an old-fashioned scholastic dean, but was of the generation of leaders in the Church of England notable for their pastoral gifts, since supplanted to some dismay by the model of chief executive officer.
At Lichfield he inherited a Chapter newly formed under the Cathedrals’ Measure, comprising lively clergy and enthusiastic laity. His pastoral experience, generous hospitality and personal charm facilitated the nurture of an increasingly active and growing cathedral community.
A good listener and wise counsellor, he had the ability to relate to people from all walks of life and was particularly adept at exciting the generosity of potential donors in the counties of the Lichfield diocese.
Consequently, funds were obtained for the relighting of the Quire area with fibre-optic technology concealed in replicas of Gilbert Scott’s Victorian gas lamps. More ambitious was a scheme designed by the Cathedral Surveyor, Martin Stancliffe, for the installation of a stone-clad altar platform in the Nave which could be retracted to floor level when the space was needed for concerts, drama and other events.
This involved excavating a substantial pit to house the electromechanical lifting apparatus. Among the treasures unearthed was a unique Saxon stone carving, thought to have been part of the 7th century Shrine of St Chad. The discovery of “The Lichfield Angel” generated worldwide interest.
Although some members of the Chapter were anxious about committing to the cost of the project – well in excess of £200,000 – Yorke was successful in raising the money, largely from private donors.
There were, however, wry smiles at the dedication of the completed works when the congregation sang a hymn including the lines “We love thine altar, Lord / Oh, what on earth so dear?”
Tall and upright, Yorke had about him
the air of a humble aristocrat. He was sartorially elegant, whether in best suit with silk handkerchief protruding from his jacket breast pocket or clothed in gardening garb to ferry his wife’s horticultural debris to the local tip. It was once remarked that he was the nearest one could imagine to an ordained earl.
Michael Leslie Yorke was born on March 25 1939. From Midhurst Grammar School and Brighton College he went to Magdalene College, Cambridge, to study Law but, sensing a vocation to Holy Orders, switched to read Theology.
After graduation in 1962 he went directly to train at Cuddesdon Theological College in Oxford under the Principal, Robert Runcie (later Archbishop of Canterbury). In 1964 he was ordained to a curacy at Croydon Parish Church. Four years later he was appointed Minor Canon Precentor and Chaplain at Chelmsford Cathedral. From 1972 to 1974 he was also deputy director at the Cathedral’s Centre for Research and Training.
In 1974 Yorke became Rector of Ashdon-with-had-stock, returning to Chelmsford in 1978 as a Canon Residentiary. His natural talent for networking and making personal contacts in the county was invaluable in securing initial donations for the reordering of the Cathedral in the early 1980s. It was during this time that his wife, Michal (née Dadd), whom he had married in 1964, became seriously ill. She died in 1987. Through her Yorke had come to know Frances Archer, whom he married in 1988. She became a great support to him in a joint ministry of care, compassion and hospitality.
Meanwhile, as a long-standing member of the Samaritans, Yorke served as national chairman (1976-79). He was vice-chairman of Help the Aged (1980-85) and a member of the Mid-essex Health Authority (1981-88), including a short time as acting chairman.
The confidence he enjoyed within the congregation at Chelmsford led the then Provost, Dr John Moses (later Dean of St Paul’s), to appoint him in 1984 as Viceprovost with overall responsibility for the pastoral work of the Cathedral.
He became a Canon Emeritus of Chelmsford when he moved four years later to be Vicar of King’s Lynn, where he formed a long-lasting relationship with Norwich Cathedral, of which he became an Honorary Canon, and the county of Norfolk, to which he eventually retired.
In 1994 Yorke was appointed Provost of Portsmouth Cathedral in succession to David Stancliffe, who had been made Bishop of Salisbury. Here again his pastoral gifts were to the fore – as well as his self-deprecating sense of fun. He took part in a revue featuring a send-up of the Spice Girls. Yorke himself, suitably made up, took the fictional role of “Old Spice”.
Yorke’s five-year tenure of the Deanery of Lichfield began with some drama when he was diagnosed as having a leaky heart valve which might have proved fatal at any moment. Prompt surgery enabled him to continue a full and active ministry until his retirement in 2004.
In addition to all his other commitments, Yorke’s love of music made him an avid supporter of the annual two-week Lichfield International Arts Festival. He would attend nearly all the twice-daily concerts in the Cathedral as well as personally hosting many of the artists at the Deanery.
He also did much to encourage the Cathedral’s own choral foundation, which attained world-class standards under the direction of Andrew Lumsden, who was subsequently Director of Music at Winchester Cathedral.
There was, however, one occasion which almost went badly wrong. At the rehearsal the evening before the wedding of a niece of Lord Lichfield, with the Queen of the Netherlands having already landed in the country for the ceremony, it transpired that Yorke had forgotten to apply for the requisite marriage licence. Fortunately, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s registrar was working late at his office and was able to fax the necessary document in the nick of time.
In retirement, Yorke continued to assist in local parishes and at Norwich Cathedral. He maintained an active interest in the hospice movement and was vice-chairman of the Norfolk Hospice, King’s Lynn.
His own personal experience of bereavement, as well as of being revived on a number of occasions by paramedics when his cardiac condition returned, led him to work with the psychologist and counsellor, Dr Catherine Proot, in writing Life to be Lived, a book exploring the challenges for people facing life-threatening illnesses.
Michael Yorke is survived by his wife, together with a son and a daughter from his first marriage and two stepsons.
The Very Reverend Michael Yorke, born March 25 1939, died April 19 2019