York Walls - The Medieval and Roman Walls in York UK

York has been a fortified City since roman times and the medieval walls and gateways (known as bars) still stand, almost entire, to this day. They are open to the public during daylight hours and give a wonderful vantage point to view York.

The roman fortifications in York were much smaller, confined to the North side of the river Ouse. Some parts of the present wall do follow the line of the roman wall, beginning in the museum gardens, a good example of roman stonework can be seen in the lower part of the Multangular tower which was the South-west tower of the legionary fortress. Built around 300 A.D. the interior of the tower was cleared of earth in 1831 to reveal the roman work. A short stretch of roman wall also exists in this area, along with other examples of later building work including the Anglian tower - built probably between 600 and 700 to fill a gap made by the fallen roman wall. Later both tower and wall were buried under an earth mound as later generations strived to maintain an impenetrable barrier. Re-discovered in 1832 they were excavated in 1969.

In full blom the daffodils around the walls

The line of the roman wall would have crossed the road outside the Art Gallery, Exhibition Square, and joined Bootham bar. This is the only bar of York to have been built on the site of a roman gateway.

The wall from this bar continues on the line of the roman wall, the outer face of this part of the wall has been hidden from view by houses built along Gillygate as early as 1170. The royalist set fire to these houses in 1644 in case they provided cover for the attacking parliamentarians. Housing here was re-built after the Civil War and it hides this section of the wall to this day.

The turn of the wall continues along the site of the roman wall along Lord Mayors Walk. To the inside, in the grounds of York Minster, the Minster Library can be seen. This is all that remains of what was once the Archbishop's palace, well worth a look if you visit the Minster - as it was where Richard 111 had his son invested as the Prince of Wales.

Next you cone to Monkgate or Monk Bar.

To continue on the walk of the walls, to the outside was the Jewish burial site, known as Jewbury, now the site of a Supermarket. You will now walk over and away from the line of the roman wall, and on to Layerthorpe. The postern at Layerthorpe was demolished when the bridge over the river Foss was rebuilt in 1829 to accommodate increasing traffic. From Layerthorpe postern to the Red Tower (situated along Foss Islands Road), was a deep and wide man-made lake called the Kings Fishpool. The water to the lake was supplied by the damming of the river Foss and it created an impenetrable area of water and swampy land to bridge the gap in the walls.

The Red Tower was built in 1490 and was named for the colour of its bricks. An impressive building in its time, it was damaged during the 1644 siege. It has had many uses through the ages, it was later known as Brimstone House as it was used to manufacture gunpowder. It was almost a ruin in 1735 and has undergone several restorations.

The wall from the Red Tower to Walmgate bar is very low, as a result of the ramparts on which it stands being restored many times.

Part 2 of our walking tour

Welcome to a good day out in York Great Britain.