WALKING YORK'S WALLS
Exploring English History Around the Great Northern City
York
is one of the most important cities of English history from the days
of the Romans, the
Viking invasion, the first Bishops of York, to royal families in
the War of
the Roses,
hometown of kings, prelates,
highwaymen and rebels. Famed highway bandit Dick Turpin is buried in
York. Guy Fawkes, English anti-government anti-hero who tried
to blow up Parliament with his own celebratory day and notorious exhibit
for
losing his head at the Tower of London was from York (See Tower
of London). Driving into York you cannot avoid the walls
and getting around the city
center is a exercise in following the exterior of the old city to find
a parking lot near a gate. You can drive into the center,
but finding a parking meter can be an exercise in itself.
To
see York from its most impressive vantage point take a walk along its
powerful, still intact walls. City workman unlock the gates at 8
in the morning and close them again at dark. It is possible to
walk around the entire city center along the walls with some detours,
but except for marathoners, it may only be a starting place for a walking
visit of the city of the white rose. There are five gates
to
the city
with their own unique
curiosities.
The Micklegate
Bar to
the
west
closest
to the railway station is the gate through which Kings and Queens have
traditionally 
entered
the city and still do. It is named from the main road from London since
Roman
times. It is also the gate above which
the severed
heads of traitors were stuck on poles. Above the gate within the stone
battlements is the Micklegate Bar Museum, three floors of narrow
steep ladders in the 800 year old stone structure, originally an apartment
for gatekeepers, the museum is mostly dedicated to this more darker gruesome
history of York along with the story of York civil and social struggles
(see Jorvik Vikings). A map of the walls walk can be obtained here or
group tours arranged.
Petergate
in the northwest quadrant is nearest the York Minster Cathedral. Dating
from 627 with Romanesque and Gothic reconstructions, York Minster is
the largest and one of the grandest of English cathedrals (see York
Minster Gothic Cathedral), worthy of awe and
exploration. The Petergate, named for St. Peter for whom the Minster 
is
dedicated is located on the original Roman entrance to the city, the
Porto
Principalis. The beautiful and haunting ruins of the another cathedral,
St. Mary’s Abbey built in 1089, destroyed by Henry VIII after
splitting from the Catholic Church, having no more need for abbeys but
more than
glad to plunder the money, lies between Petergate and Ouse River where
the river tour boats stop at Lendel Bridge landing. Continuing along 
the
walls to the east
is Monk Bar gate. This is the gate one is likely to first encounter when
driving into York from the north (see Yorkshire
Air Museum) the coast and moors. Up narrow stairs in Monk
Bar Gate is the curious and fun Richard III museum with stories and
memorabilia
surrounding English
royalty’s
most famous “villain”.
King Richard the Third has long been suspected of having two young princes
murdered in the Tower of London on his
climb
to power. The museum explores this in a “mock trail”, mostly
a recorded audio experience with posed figures where evidence is presented
for and against as the denounced king stands for himself in the dock.
Richard’s dark side is most familiar today from Shakespeare who
has his own controversial history to deal with (See The
Stratford Shakespeare).
The
walls end for a period past Monk Bar where the river Foss forms a natural
boundary, but after the river, the walls continue again to the southeast
Walmgate which has the only remaining intact barbican in Britain. A
Barbican
is a medieval causeway between an inner and outer gate defensible from
above. Micklegate had one but now only Walmgate’s remains intact.
The walls stop again at the York Castle. The cemetery with Highwayman
Dick Turpin’s gave lies outside the castle’s old wall.The
York Castle is mostly 
a
later reconstructed palace which now houses the Castle Museum, offering
a look into York’s colorful past with full scale rooms of what
life was like in many periods, including a full scale Victorian Street
indoors. Across from the castle
museum is Clifford’s Tower, an original early defensive fortress
standing lonely sentinel on its hill mound. Clifford’s Tower is
reputed to change its color to blood red to those of a psychic nature
as a signal of the many prisoners who have died in its dungeons.
Crossing
the Ouse River again on the south the walls continue back to Micklegate
where the road from Leeds and the A64 motorway intersect the old city.
The entire route along the walls around the city is a little over 2
miles
and perhaps only the dedicated or joggers will want to make the full
route. It is easy enough to depart the walls at the gates and head
straight though
the old town to all the other fascinating sites and adventures. The Shambles,
original 15th century shopping street, the Jorvik Viking Center exploring
the city’s Viking period with a dark ride into 1000 years past,
the York Dungeons, not real ones, but a thrill adventure of live performers
exploring plague, witch trails and traitors of York.
For
other ways to see York, take a Ghost Walk, a nighttime guided group
walking
tour to the city’s reputed haunted spots (see York
Ghost Walks). There are a variety of guided themed
historic walking tours York
Walks which start at 10:30 am or 2:15 pm at the Museum
Gardens Gates near Lendal Bridge. You don't need a reservation for these
walks.
Just show up. They cost around £5 for adults. Or take a York
Boat tour up and down the rivers that pass
through
the heart
of
York.
York
Boat
offers
a variety
of themed cruises from straight sightseeing guide to dinner and dance
cruises.
Where
to stay. Two hotels near Petergate and the York Minster. The Lamb
& Lion Inn is
tucked right next to the gate with four floors (four high) in an 18th
century building,
quaint
and mood setting, though
no elevator. The restaurant downstairs is a cozy intimate
corner connected to the hotel and the back garden tables are
set in tree grown
shade of the walls with views of the minster.
The Best Western Dean Court Hotel does
have an elevator with a modernized style in a classic building
refurbished in period atmosphere and is conveniently steps from the York
Minster which is virtually just out the front door. Or
the Best Western Monkbar Hotel
if
you want to consort more closely with villain kings. © Bargain
Travel Europe
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See Also:
LANGLEY CASTLE HOTEL & RESTAURANT
RIPLEY CASTLE AND BOARS HEAD INN
