Anne Lister and Ann Walker considered themselves married 192 years ago on Easter Sunday. Although same-sex marriage wasn’t legal at the time, the church they symbolically tied the knot in–Holy Trinity, on Goodramgate–has since been described as the birthplace of lesbian marriage.
The church now needs help fixing its 17th-century gate that Walker and Lister almost certainly passed under when they married a couple of hundred years ago. The Churches Conservation Trust has boxed off the top half of the gateway to prevent further collapse, but it will need £30,000 to fully restore it.
Gemma Murray, from the trust, said to the BBC: “Historically, if there was a problem with brickwork, what used to happen is that people would take concrete to stick bricks back together.
“What tends to happen is over time water gets in behind that concrete, and the brickwork rejects the concrete, so it sort of spits it out.
“That’s very much a sign that the gate needs some real care and attention.”
The first documented modern lesbian
Anne Lister was a Yorkshire landowner, businesswoman, lover, niece, and lesbian. She was–unkindly, at times–referred to as “Gentleman Jack” for her masculine appearance, style and personality. She overthrew the societal expectations of 19th-century women–she saw past double-standards to forge a path she could be excited about.
Anne Lister kept diaries to document her life, giving lesbians of today a rare firsthand glimpse at what it was really like for some of us in the 1800s. Lister wrote these diaries in code, which begs the question: was she just remaining private and confidential, or was she fully aware that straightforward depictions of lesbianism would probably have been destroyed to prevent anyone reading about it? Was she speaking directly to us, the future?
Either way, her life has become a well of inspiration for creatives everywhere, whether it be for a hit TV show that ended too soon or a ballet production performed recently. Her journals amount to more than four million words. In 2011, the United Nations declared them “pivotal” documents in British history.
Anne also reported experiences with other women from lesbian history. It’s easy to view stories of lesbians from history as isolated and untethered, but Anne brings them to life through her eyes. When visiting the Ladies of Llangollen, Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, Anne wrote: “I cannot help thinking that surely it was not platonic. Heaven forgive me, but I look within myself & doubt. I feel the infirmity of our nature & hesitate to pronounce such attachments uncemented by something more tender still than friendship.”
Birthplace of lesbian marriage
A rainbow plaque was unveiled at the Holy Trinity church to honour Anne Lister in 2018. It was the first plaque commemorating a lesbian, gay or bisexual person in York.
The Churches Conservation Trust wrote on Facebook: “Installed in 2018 by York Civic Trust, this plaque commemorating not only a historic “lesbian and diarist”, but Anne and her partner Ann’s love and conviction to spend the rest of their lives together, was the first of its kind.”
Sarah Cowling, a Churches Conservation Trust volunteer and Blue Badge tour guide, told the BBC she was concerned that if the gate wasn’t restored, visitors wouldn’t see the plaque.
“If we have to shut the gate, then the rainbow plaque will be sort of in the cul-de-sac there,” she said.
“It’s something we really celebrate in the church and we want it to be an important part of people’s visits here.”
On the 30th of March, 2026, volunteers at Holy Trinity Goodramgate dressed up to commemorate the wedding anniversary, according to The Churches Conservation Trust.
“Volunteers at Holy Trinity Goodramgate took visitors on a costumed tour, led by expert tour guide Sarah, to meet some of Anne’s contemporaries. The tour also led past the gate that Anne and Ann would have passed through that day, which is in urgent need of repair.”
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