York+City+Walls

l The York City Walls were built during medieval times to defend the city of York from invaders. Though much of the walls have been destroyed, and some parts have been rebuilt, they are one of the only standing piece of medieval city walls left in England.

Beneath the medieval stonework lie the remains of earlier walls dating as far back as the Roman period which survived until the 9th century, 866 when York was invaded by the Danish Vikings. The walls were buried under an earth bank and topped with a wooden palisade. The wooden palisade was removed and built over in the 13th and 14 century. During medieval times, stone walls were built, originally including four main gates or ‘bars’ (Bootham Bar, Monk Bar, Walmgate Bar and Micklegate Bar), six postern or secondary gates and 44 intermediate towers. The defensive perimeter stretched over two miles surrounding the medieval city and castle.

In the late 18th century the walls were no longer used as defense and were stalling the city's expansion, so the corporation of York applied an Act of Parliament to demolish them. The idea of destroying the walls continued to be discussed as other cities such as London tore down their walls. In York, however, the city officials met with fierce opposition. By the mid-nineteenth century the proposal had been rejected. With the passing time, though, the walls had started to fall apart. All but one of the gateways (Walmgate Bar), three of the postern gates, five towers and 300 yards of the wall had fallen or been torn down due to lack of preservation. Since then the walls have been restored and maintained for public access, including the planting of spring flowers on the old Viking embankment.