York is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Britain. This era was York’s apogee, its wealth and status reflected in the built environment, so much of which survives today. The city had always been an important ecclesiastical and trading centre, but it benefited significantly from the burgeoning textile and wool trade, and royal patronage. The latter came largely a result of York’s status as an Archbishopric and its strategic role as a base for English forays into Scotland. Prosperity was further reinforced by the establishment of a Jewish community.
York was granted a charter in the early years of the c. 13th and became self-governing. The mayor was a pivotal figure in York’s government. His gatekeepers controlled access to the city, he presided over court affairs and managed the city’s finances. Taxes were collected by the Mayor’s bailiffs and bridge masters, while chamberlains and clerks administered the coffers.
Some parts of the city were outside mayoral jurisdiction. These included the Liberty of St Peter – the area around the minster, presided over by the Archbishop and with its own prisons, gallows, courts and laws. Others were certain hospitals, Holy Trinity Priory and St Mary’s Abbey. The abbey, itself a walled city-within-a-city, enjoyed a busy economy; it’s precinct included a brewery, a bakehouse, a mill, granaries, a fish house and workshops. Relations between the townsfolk and the wealthy abbey were fraught, with disputes escalating to threats, blockades and violence.
By all accounts York was a squalid place. Murage – a tax levied to ensure upkeep of the city’s walls – ensured York’s population was protected from external threat. But at its peak 30,000 people dwelt in the city and many threats would have come from within, in the form of illness and disease. Edward III famously wrote the following to York’s grandees in 1332:
To the mayor and bailiffs of York, The king, detesting the abominable smell abounding in the said city more than in any other city of the realm from dung and manure and other filth and dirt wherewith the streets and lanes are filled and obstructed, and wishing to provide for the protection of the health of the inhabitants and of those coming to the present parliament, orders them to cause all the streets and lanes of the city to becleansed from such filth.
The late c. 15th saw York’s fortunes reversed. Yorkist king Richard III was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field by the House of Lancaster’s Henry Tudor, marking the end of the War of the Roses. York’s textile industry declined in the face of competition from West Yorkshire towns. The city became ruinous and depopulated. Worse was to come following the collapse of York’s great religious houses during the Reformation and Dissolution of the Monasteries, followed by Catholic strife and then civil war…
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- York MinsterYork Minster is one of the greatest cathedrals in northern Europe, and part of a ...
- York GuildhallYork Guildhall marks the point at which the Romans forded the River Ouse and provided ...
- York CastleYork Castle was originally a large fortified complex, comprising the keep of Clifford’s Tower, prisons ...
- WhipmawhopmagateThe longest street name in York is also the shortest street in York, at just ...
- Walmgate BarThis is the only gatehouse to retain its outer defensive barbican. The bar is largely ...
- Victoria BarLike Fishergate Bar, Victoria Bar is a secondary gateway amongst York’s walls. The current structure ...
- The Treasurer’s HouseBuilt to house the treasurers of York Minster, the original medieval structure has been largely ...
- The ShamblesThe Shambles is known for the number of butchers that used to trade from it. ...
- The Royal Oak, GoodramgateDating back to the 15th Century, there has probably been a structure on the site ...
- The Red Lion, MerchantgateDating back to the 12th century, this pub was originally known as The Three Cups. ...
- The Old BailleYork was one of the few cities in England that had two castles. The first ...
- The Golden Slipper, GoodramgateThe building dates back to the 14th century. A medieval leather slipper was found built ...
- The Burton StoneAt the corner of Burton Stone lane, behind iron railings, is the Burton Stone itself. ...
- The Black Swan, Peasholme GreenThe pub dates back to the 15th century, when it was a private house. It ...
- SwinegateSwinegate was known in Viking and medieval times as Swinegail, meaning the lane where swine ...
- St William’s CollegeA unique non-monastic religious building, St William’s College was named after Archbishop William Fitzherbert, who ...
- St SaviourgateNamed after St Saviour’s Church, which originally dated back to 1090. The street was originally ...
- St Saviour, St SaviourgateA church has stood on this site since the 11th century, although the present building ...
- St Sampson’s, Church StreetLocated in the heart of York, the building stands over part of the Roman city ...
- St Olave’s, MarygateWithin the walls of St Mary’s Abbey, this church is thought to have been founded ...
- St Michael, SpurriergateNow a café, the church was founded after the Norman Conquest. Its oldest features are ...
- St Michael-Le-BelfreyThe building dates from 1525, so its origins are not strictly medieval. However, a church ...
- St Maurice, MonkgateThis wedge of grass marks the spot of the church of St Maurice. The original ...
- St Mary’s TowerThis tower is part of the defences that surrounded St Mary’s Abbey, rather than York’s ...
- St Mary’s Abbey wallsThe walls along Marygate were built in 1266 as part of the defences for St ...
- St Mary’s AbbeyOriginally dedicated to St Olave in 1055, this Benedictine abbey was re-established shortly after William ...
- St Mary’s LodgeBuilt in 1470, the lodge, next to St Olave’s Church, was the main entrance into ...
- St Mary, CastlegateThe church dates back to roughly 1020. A dedication stone inside reads that the church ...
- St Mary, Bishophill SeniorAll that remains of this church, demolished in the 1960s, is a community garden, which ...
- St Mary, Bishophill JuniorYork’s oldest church, it is situated within what was the colonia or civilian quarter of ...
- St Martin Le Grande, Coney StThe earliest masonry is from 1080, though the church is thought to be older. The ...
- St Margaret, WalmgateSix medieval churches were located in the Walmgate area, but now only two remain. The ...
- St Leonard’s hospitalSt Leonard’s was the largest medieval hospital in England and cared for the ill and ...
- St Lawrence, Lawrence StThe ruined tower standing apart from the Victorian church is at least 12th century, with ...
- St John, MicklegateThe simple rectangular building dates from the 12th century. In additional to its role as ...
- St Helens, StonegateSituated on the site of the main entrance to the Roman legionary headquarters, it includes ...
- St George’s Chapel, St George’s FieldThe Knights Templar owned a quantity of land in Yorkshire, including a preceptory at Copmanthorpe ...
- St Denys, WalmgateSet on a raised knoll above the current road level, the present building was founded in ...
- St Cuthbert, Peasholme GreenThe site of this church is one of the oldest foundations in York. A place ...
- St Crux, PavementOriginally the largest medieval parish church in York after its rebuilding in 1424, it was demolished ...
- St Anthony’s HallIn 1446 King Henry VI granted a charter which founded the Guild of St Martin. ...
- St Andrew, St AndrewgateThis simple church is located in what is now an affluent part of York, but ...
- Red TowerThe Red Tower was built in 1490 by order of Henry VII. Controversially, the job ...
- Peaseholme GreenThis area was once a water meadow where peas were grown. The street name is ...
- Mulberry HallThe name Mulberry Hall has been applied to this site since 1372. It was the ...
- Monk BarDating from the 14th century, this is the tallest and strongest of the four main ...
- Minster undercroft and cryptThe Minster’s undercroft and crypt reveal much about its Norman legacy. The crypt, in particular, ...
- Minster LibraryThe building, once a private chapel for the Archbishop’s use, was built in 1230. It ...
- Micklegate BarThis gatehouse was the traditional ceremonial entrance for royalty, who would typically approach the city ...
- Merchant Taylor’s HallGuild life can trace its roots back to Saxon times, with the formation of the ...
- Merchant Adventurers’ HallIn 1357 a number of York’s men and women came together to form a new ...
- Lendal TowerThis imposing tower was part of the medieval city’s river defences. A chain could be ...
- Lady RowDating from the 1320s, they were built for the Minster’s priests. The cottages are notable ...
- King’s ManorCurrently leased to the University of York, King’s Manor was built in 1270 as a ...
- JubbergateIn the Viking era this street was known as Brettegate, meaning the street inhabited by ...
- JewburyJust outside the walls leading from Monk Bar to Layerthorpe was Jewbury, the site of ...
- Jacob’s WellPreviously the parish room for the Priory Church of the Holy Trinity, this unusual medieval ...
- HospitiumThe Hospitium is a large stone and timber-framed building, once part of St Mary’s abbey. ...
- Holy Trinity, MicklegateOn the site of a pre-conquest building, it includes remnants of a Benedictine priory church. ...
- Holy Trinity, King’s SquareKnown as Konungsgarthr or King’s Garth in the 10th century, some have suggested this small ...
- Holy Trinity, GoodramgateThis lovely, small church, hidden away in a secluded churchyard, dates from the 11th century, ...
- Gray’s CourtGrays Court is possibly the oldest continuously occupied house in the United Kingdom. Dating back ...
- Grape LaneOnce part of York’s red light district, the lane was known as Grapc***lane, ‘grap’ meaning ...
- GillygateThis street takes its name from St. Giles’s Church which was located along this street ...
- FriargateFriargate is today a short street which connects Castlegate to Clifford Street, but it once ...
- Franciscan FriaryThe friary of York’s Franciscan monks, or Grey Friars, was located here, possibly adjacent to ...
- Fishergate Postern TowerThis tower was built between 1504 and 1507, replacing an earlier structure called Talkan Tower. ...
- Fishergate BarThis is one of the secondary gateways into the city. First recorded in 1315, the ...
- FeasegateFeasegate is a medieval street which is named after fehus, meaning cow house.
- Dean’s ParkThis small, leafy park, along with the Minster and a number of surrounding buildings, were ...
- DavygateThe Forest of Galtres was a 100,000 acre royal forest stretching to the very edge ...
- ColliergateThe street was once the place where coal or charcoal was traded in medieval times. ...
- Clifford’s TowerClifford’s Tower is a keep within the larger complex of York Castle. It is situated ...
- Clementhorpe NunneryThurstan, Archbishop of York, founded Clementhorpe nunnery in 1130 to service the parish of St ...
- Bowes Morrell HouseThe plan of this timber-framed L-shaped building, incorporating an open hall, is unique in York. Dating from ...
- Bootham Bar Postern TowerResembling its sister building at Fishergate, it consists of a three storey tower, a portion ...
- Bootham BarBootham is a continuation of Petergate outside the city walls. There has been a gateway ...
- BoothamAlthough contested, Bootham may mean ‘at the booths’ and could refer to booths erected near ...
- Blossom StreetOriginally known as Ploxwangate, from Ploughswaingate, meaning ‘the street of the man who repairs ploughs’. Ploxwan ...
- Bedern HallDating from the 14th century, Bedern Hall was the refectory, or dining hall, for York ...
- BedernAn ancient lane, off Goodramgate, leading to Bedern Chapel and Hall and, via Bartle Garth, ...
- Barley HallHidden behind a modern office block façade until the 1980s, the oldest parts of Barley ...
- Barker TowerDating from the 14th century, this round tower, along with Lendal Tower on the bank ...
- All Saints, PavementA church has been located here since before the Norman Conquest. The minster church, according ...
- All Saints, North StFounded in 1089, the church grew over subsequent centuries to include up to five altars ...
- 5 College StreetA ghostly child has been seen staring out of the window in the upper floor ...
- 12 NewgateDating from 1337, this is probably the second-oldest house in York. No 12 is one ...