I AM upset and angry about the Dean and Chapter of York Minster considering charging every visitor entering the building (January 24).

Will those York residents who pop in regularly, to pray or to attend a service, have to wear a badge if they don't wish to pay every time?

While realising that, apart from some clergy, stonemasons and glaziers, many are employed in the Minster - the policing group, vergers, cleaners, gardeners etc - and have to be paid, I should have thought income from all the many properties owned by the Dean and Chapter could cover most of these expenses.

The Minster is generous by frequently offering the collection monies to some good and urgent cause. But the offertory from services during the year must be substantial; people often feel generous if their visit is a one-off, so they put £5 on the plate instead of a £1 or £2 coin. And the Friends of York Minster provide many thousands of pounds for projects during the year.

Unlike Fairfax House or Jorvik, the Minster is not a museum - it is a beautiful, rather large, old parish church which is open almost every day to all people, whether or not they are Christians.

Jesus, berating the money-changers in the Temple, called the building a house of prayer. I am not implying that, like the money-changers, the Dean and Chapter wish to rob anyone, but there's enough commercialisation in the Minster shop.

E Stayman,

Bootham,

York.

...I READ with sadness that York Minster is considering the introduction of admission charges.

Are we really supposed to believe that the Church of England is poor? They may have made a trading loss at the Minster last year but what about their list of assets?

Perhaps they could consider selling one of their many properties in York to pay for the shortfall?

The Minster isn't just a museum or tourist attraction, it is a spiritual sanctuary. Even those of us who aren't devout Christians find ourselves occasionally drawn to the Minster: Christmas Eve, Millennium Eve, the death of Princess Diana, a family illness or private thoughts that need a peaceful moment of contemplation. Lighting a candle and saying a quiet prayer can almost seem to perform miracles at times.

York Minster is part of our English birthright, especially for those of us baptised into the Church of England. I have been to other cathedrals which levy a charge and it lessens the spiritual experience. Somehow the cathedrals in question seem diminished by this commercialisation.

One possible idea is to charge foreign visitors who, in my experience, tend to treat the Minster like just another tourist event on their list. But perhaps this could be considered prejudiced, xenophobic or a decidedly un-Christian attitude. The Minster's doors should stay open to all, welcoming and wonderful as always.

Bev Dearnley,

High Petergate,

York.

Updated: 10:46 Wednesday, February 06, 2002