The following years he supervised many renovations and developments to the building, resulting in St James, a church containing a nave with six bays.

In 1856 Canon Ainslie began a complete restoration of St James, which included lengthening the chancel and the rebuilding of the South transept.

The Mayor of North East Lincolnshire, Councillor John Colebrook, accepted the official declaration of Minster status on behalf of the Borough.

Local traditions have claimed for many years that the mortal remains of Grim, the town's probably mythical Viking founder, were laid to rest here.

First recorded in the 13th-century Middle English romance Havelok the Dane, a lively and fast-moving poem, the tale is frequently funny with important questions about what makes a good ruler and a just society: kindness is rewarded, cruelty punished, and the rightful king restored to his proper place.

Sir Thomas was celebrated locally for his generous patronage, rebuilding St Leonard's Nunnery which had been destroyed by fire.

They were, however, replaced to their original designs thanks to the generosity of a post-war generation of local philanthropists whose names are recorded in script within the glass.

[6][7] The other promised the angel to heed the warning and fled to Grimsby where he quickly resumed his previous bad behaviour, terrorising the innocent parishioners.

The Chapel opened in 1905 as a memorial to the late Canon James Peter Young, a 19th-century Vicar of Grimsby and founder of schools.

The Hagioscope, or Squint window is a medieval relic offering a coveted viewpoint to the Elevation of the Host during Mass at the High Altar in the Chancel.

Also of note is the memorial to the "Grimsby Chums", a Lincolnshire Regiment enrolled in response to Kitchener's 1914 recruitment call to "join now with your pals".

The West End Organ is by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd and dates from 1951, built to replace an earlier instrument destroyed by enemy action during the Second World War.

Since September 2013, instituted by organist Anthony Pinel, choristers have been drawn from across the county of North East Lincolnshire and, in his successor's time, beyond and membership of the choir is open to girls as well as boys.