Letter: Junior minster

Sir: I am pleased to read (report, 12 January) that Sunderland is to have a minster church. However, claims are being made about it being the first new minster since the Reformation.

The parish church of Dewsbury - All Saints - became Dewsbury Minster in 1993. Tradition is strong that Paulinus brought Christianity to Dewsbury AD627, and in Anglo-Saxon times it is believed to have been a "minster".

Canon JOHN HAWLEY

Team Rector

The Team Parish of Dewsbury

West Yorkshire