YORK residents will have a rare opportunity to discover how the Minster was built, and view original plans normally kept from view, as part of National Science Week.

York Minster's Centre for School Visits is running a special workshop called How Was It Done? which will explore the problems medieval builders faced in constructing the city's most famous building and how they overcame them.

Participants will also have the chance to visit the Mason's Loft, above the Chapter House Vestibule, which is normally unseen by visitors. The Loft contains a surviving 600-year-old plaster tracing floor on which parts of the Minster were originally planned and designed.

Timo Little, of the Centre for School Visits, said: "We have been running this session for the last six or seven years, but we seem to get very few people from York. We would like residents to take advantage of this rare opportunity."

The Centre for School Visits will be hosting two sessions on Saturday, March 19, from 10am until noon and from 1pm to 3pm, and another on Saturday, March 20, from 1pm to 3pm.

Tickets are free, but limited to 25 per session, and must be obtained in advance on a first-come-first-served basis by phoning 01904 557224.

Updated: 09:32 Saturday, March 06, 2004