Overview
The city of York considered as the second city of England has probably the richest heritage of any, and is certainly among the best preserved. York, then known as Eboracum was founded by the Romans in AD 71 as a garrison for the 9th legion. With Chester (Deva) it was the only town of note in the north and as such was visited by Hadrian during the construction of the famous wall in 122. Septimius Severus. The African Emperor (born at Leptis Magna in Libya) died at York in 211 and Constantine was proclaimed Emperor here in 306 later becoming famous for establishing Christianity as the state religion of Rome. In the 5th century the legions were withdrawn from Britain and a series of invasions by Germanic peoples began leading to the creation of an Anglian kingdom in Northumbria (Daira) whose capital York (Eoforwic – a corruption of the Latin) became. During the Anglo-Saxon period the city was renowned for producing Alcuin, a learned monk brought to Aix-la-Chapelle by Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor.
It was in the ninth century that the Vikings or Norsemen arrived in York. They sailed up the River Ouse and established a base here, from which to launch their conquest of the north, renaming it Jorvik. Overcoming their tendency to plunder and pillage they established the foundations for a prosperous merchant economy which was to emerge in the Middle Ages. Excavations of a Viking settlement at Coppergate in the centre of York have recently been converted into an innovative underground museum called “Jorvik” which vividly recreates the sights, sounds and even smells of Viking Britain.
Visitors sit in small electronic cars, and travel backwards “through time”, as they pass by a series of figures from various periods of history (World War II to Norman times). This introductory section is designed to give an idea of the time span which separates us from the Viking era seeming to emerge through the fire which destroyed part of the city in the C10th. Visitors find themselves in the heart of Viking Coppergate. The cars then embark on a tour that takes in Viking workshops, houses, street and harbour scenes against a soundtrack of specially trained local people conversing in Old Norse. The second section of the 20 min journey moves into a reconstruction of Coppergate as it was during the archaeological dig in the 1970s, showing the timbers of some of the original buildings. At the end of the ride you exit through a display area where many of the small objects found on the project are exhibited, together with a breathtaking hologram of a Viking helmet.
The Vikings also left vestiges of their language, since in York a “Gate” is a street and a (city) gate is a “Bar” of which there are four dating from the C14, all excellently preserved. This has given rise to the popular description of York as the city….
Where the Streets are Gates,
The Gates are Bars,
And the Bars are Pubs…
By the time of the Norman invasion in 1066, the Vikings had been absorbed into the existing community. After consolidating his power in the south, William sought to extend a controlling presence throughout the country. He built a series of wooden fortresses at strategic points, including Clifford’s Tower in York, later rebuilt in stone.
Medieval York and the Minster
In the Middle Ages York became a rich and powerful city, thanks to its role as trading centre for a wide variety of goods; particularly wool, which was exported mainly to Flanders. The citizens sought to increase their prestige by constructing the Minster, dedicated to St Peter and still the largest Gothic Cathedral in the land. It was started in 1220 by Archbishop de Gray using an old Roman fort as the foundations, and took 252 years to complete (1472). (York had been designated the northern Christian capital in 627 on the instructions of Pope Gregory, who had sent Augustine to Canterbury to convert the Angles – York remains the second most important diocese in England, after Canterbury).
In 1328 Edward III married Philippa of Hainault (from Flanders) in the Minster. The Cathedral contains half of all the surviving medieval stained glass in England, most notably the Five Sisters window in the north arm of the transept, restored in 1925 in memory of the women who gave their lives in the Great War. The Rose Window over the south door is less impressive, but is interesting for the fact that it features the red and white roses of Lancaster and York there to commemorate the marriage of Henry Tudor to Elizabeth of York after the end of the Wars of the Roses. Behind the altar is the Great East Window, which is the largest expanse of stained glass in England, covering an area the size of a tennis court.
Several times the Minster has been damaged by fire, most notably in July 1984 when it was struck by lightning, and the wooden roof of the south transept burst into flames. Cynics (or perhaps true believers!) have suggested that this disaster was in some way related to the ordination at York immediately beforehand of the new Archbishop of Durham, David Jenkins, whose religious convictions are perhaps best described as unorthodox! He is suspected of believing that Jesus was no more than a good bloke and having severe reservations about the validity of the Virgin Birth, which says little for the reputation of Mary. A fine example of divine retribution if ever there was one! The roof has since been repaired using oaks from the Royal Estates at Windsor and the Duchy of Cornwall, and was re-opened in 1986 by Margaret Thatcher.
Wars of the Roses and Civil War
By the mid C15 the Dukes of York were powerful enough to claim the throne for themselves. Taking advantage of the weakness of Henry VI and the political uncertainty that followed the English defeat in the 100 Years War with France. Richard of York, supported by Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (the King-maker) made a bid for the Crown and although he was killed at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460 (and according to Shakespeare in Henry VI Part III, horribly tortured) his son Edward IV was able to seize the throne in 1461. His right to the throne was suspect, however, as he was crowned by the Archbishop of York, not Canterbury. This struggle between the White Rose of York and the red of Lancaster is known as the Wars of the Roses. For fuller details see the Warwick Castle notes.
Much of the character of the North changed in the 16th century, especially after 1536 when Henry VIII broke the power of the great religious houses – the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Yorkshire contained some of the most splendid: the great Cistercian houses of Rievaulx and Fountains both housed communities of 600-700 “brethren”. Royal attempts to replace the old Catholic religion with the new Anglican confession led to discontent and near rebellion – even pilgrimages were banned.
Despite the official conversion to Protestantism the north remained sullenly pro-catholic and this was one reason why, in the Civil War of 1642-6, Parliament was to find most resistance in the North and West. The infamous Guy Fawkes, who attempted unsuccessfully to blow up the Houses of Parliament, as the Protestant King James I attended the Opening Ceremony in 1605, was born at Petergate in York. The Catholic Conspirators were betrayed and Fawkes was discovered in the cellars at Westminster preparing to ignite a mountain of gunpowder barrels, thinly disguised under bundles of firewood, shortly before the Ceremony began. He was interrogated and later executed for treason, along with his accomplices. To this day the cellars of the Palace of Westminster are ceremoniously checked by an armed guard before every opening, and the King’s close shave is still commemorated by the English with fireworks on November 5th Bonfire Night. A stuffed image, known as a “Guy” and symbol of the defeat of the Catholic faction, is ceremoniously burned on the fire.
Prior to this war the North was governed by the “Council of the North”, a Tudor institution set up to control the often-rebellious aristocracy. The last president of this rather repressive body was the Earl of Strafford, “Black Tom Tyrant”, the right-hand man of Charles I. His HQ was King’s Manor by the Bootham Bar (where the King summoned the Great Council in 1640), but he was later executed at the Tower of London in 1641. (The victory of Parliament in the Civil War meant the end of separate systems of government and the start of truly centralized rule). In 1644, after the Battle of Marston Moor, (fought just outside the city) York was besieged by General Fairfax, but the walls were stout enough to resist his cannon; the city surrendered, however, and its fine buildings, notably the rather high Church Minster were spared. Fairfax himself pledged to protect it.
Georgian York and Modern Times
In the C18 York became once again a prosperous merchant town; the Georgian architecture, particularly the Mansion House, is typically opulent, in keeping with the taste of the time.
Quaker families like Rowntree and Terry established chocolate factories here which still prosper today. Amongst noteworthy visitors to the city was Daniel Defoe, who passed through on his “Tour around Britain”, and had Robinson Crusoe born here in 1632. Another famous C18 novel “Tristram Shandy” was published (1760-7) in Stonegate, but this earned Sterne, the author, much disapproval as his characters were too close to their originals! Notorious highwayman Dick Turpin completed the gruelling ride from London to York in record time on his horse Black Bess after bungling a burglary in London. In order to establish a watertight alibi he rode through the night and at the stroke of 12 noon, paid obsequious respects to the Lord Mayor of York. At that time it was considered impossible to complete the journey in so short a time, and as a result he was eliminated from enquiries. After a subsequent crime he was not so successful in escaping the long arm of the law and was hanged at York in 1739.
The city’s historic walls had a narrow escape in the 1830s when the local Council drew up plans to have them demolished. They were saved, however, by the combined efforts of two C19 literary giants. Charles Dickens wrote a series of articles expressing his outrage at this desecration of the city’s heritage while William Wordsworth made impassioned poetic pleas for their preservation. The walls are a major feature of any tour of the city, as it is possible to walk along them from Bootham to Monk Bar.
The coming of the railway provided York with an industry that has lasted; carriages are still built at the engineering works in the city, and the Railway Museum has a collection to rival any in the country. The Luftwaffe heavily bombed the railway yards during the Second World War, as York was an important centre for troop dispersement.
Today York proudly maintains its traditions and after the confectionery and railway industries, tourism is the third most important contributor to the city’s income. A recent boost to York’s image came with the wedding of Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey. The couple were subsequently granted the titles of Duke and Duchess of York. The city has had a university since 1963.
Suggested Walking Tour
Beginning at the Viking Hotel, located on the banks of the River Ouse, on a small street running parallel to North Street, cross into the city via Ouse Bridge. Turn right onto Ness Gate, where there are some interesting pubs, then branch down Clifford Street. Left onto Tower Street. From here you have a fine view of Clifford’s Tower, built In the C13 on the site of William the conqueror’s original stronghold. The bottom layer of stones is coloured red, some say with the blood of York’s Jewish population, who committed mass suicide here in 1190. Anti-Semitism is not a new phenomenon, and in the C12 Jews were blamed for many things including poverty, hunger and outbreaks of the plague. When riots broke out in the nearby Jewish quarter, residents took refuge in the Tower, and rather than surrender to the rampaging mob outside, they carried out a tragic suicide pact reminiscent of that which took place at Masada, when the last Jewish garrison to remain in the Holy Land fell to the Romans. The tower was reduced to its present state when a powder magazine blew up in the C17. Behind the Tower is the Castle Museum, which houses an interesting collection of folk objects plus reconstructions of Georgian and Victorian streets, complete with Post Office, Sweet Shop, Bank and Hotel.
Turn left onto Castlegate, past Fairfax House, containing a fine collection of Georgian furnishings. A little further along on the right is “The York Story”, an audio-visual account of the city’s history, housed in a converted medieval church. Right onto Coppergate, location of the Jorvik Museum – see notes above. At the end of the street is All Saints’ Church, Pavement (not to be confused with All Saints’, North Street across the river). A light burned in the tower here, showing weary travellers the way to York in the days before the introduction of electric light. In medieval times the routes into cities such as York were littered with decomposing bodies, hanging from trees, a brutal reminder of the harsh system of justice which prevailed. The popular expression “to pull someone’s leg” (meaning to joke or fool someone), dates back to this period, when convicted criminals would not be dropped through a trap door so that their necks were broken, but hoisted aloft and slowly strangled to death. Thus it was not uncommon for mischievous children on their way to market to swing from the legs of these unfortunates, both to amuse themselves and to speed up an agonising death. An extension of the same expression, “pull the other one, it’s got bells on”, derives from the practice of attaching bells to the legs of the swinging corpse. Many of these overhung the highway, and the tinkling bells were designed to warn unwary travellers passing in the dark, of what lay ahead.
From Coppergate cross Parliament Street and head up the Pavement. Along here is Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma Gate, the shortest street in York, and the place where less serious crimes were punished with a severe whipping. Follow the Shambles up to the left. This is the most famous street in York, and is so narrow that someone leaning out of an upstairs windows can shake hands comfortably with the person opposite. It takes its name from the Early English word ‘shamel’, meaning a stall or booth on which meat was placed for sale. “Shambles” was the name given to the butcher’s street in any medieval town, but this one is better preserved and more picturesque than most. In the Middle Ages, a gutter running down the middle of the street, would have been filled with refuse from butcher’s shops and abattoirs. Offal, animal heads and rivers of blood are the macabre reality behind the almost polite expression, “This place is a shambles! Clean it up!” Nowadays souvenir and sweet shops have replaced the original meat market.
The Shambles takes you to King’s Square, from where you can easily see the Minster. Carry straight on to Goodramgate, which leads to the Monk Bar. (Public Ghost Tours leave from here at 8 p.m most evenings). On the way you pass on the left the oldest group of houses in the city – early C14. Further along is St William’s College, established in 1461 to house twenty-four of the Minster’s Priests. St William was an archbishop of York and great-grandson of the Conqueror. A narrow entrance in Monk Bar gives access to the City-Wall. Walk them along to the left in the direction of Bootham Bar where there are splendid views of the Minster and the historic City Centre. Close to Monk Bar is the Treasurer’s House, the most haunted building in Britain, now the property of the National Trust. Climb down from the wall at Bootham Bar, and head down Petergate to the Minster. Tell them about the Cathedral, then give them free time to look inside.
One other interesting story you might like to mention involves the popular nursery rhyme “The Grand Old Duke of York”. This refers to one of Wellington’s generals at Waterloo. When not thrashing Napoleon, the Duke showed an unhealthy passion for square-bashing and route marches. Contemporary wits put together the following satirical observation on his activities:
Oh, the Grand Old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men,
He marched them up to the top of the hill, …
… And he marched them down again.
And when they were up, they were up
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only half way up…
They were neither up nor down.
Some sources suggest that this was an adaptation of an earlier rhyme about James II, brother of Charles II, in the days before he laid claim to the throne. He too spent his time performing aimless military exercises on Hounslow Heath. But he did at least manage to achieve something useful, whilst bearing the title Duke of York, and this of no little significance to Americans; for it was James who snatched the island of Manhattan away from Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch governor, and changed the name of its chief settlement from New Amsterdam to New York.
Yorkshire
The White Rose County is the largest and proudest in England. It boasts some of the most breath-taking scenery in Britain, beautiful cathedrals, historic towns and many of the factories and mines, which sparked off and then fuelled the Industrial Revolution in the C19. The distinctive Yorkshire accent lends itself nicely to remarks so dry, they need instant refreshment -usually in the form of a pint of best. Pubs are the main social institution in the county, and what they lack in sophistication, they make up for in atmosphere. Patrons order gin and tonics at their peril. Cognoscenti go straight for the “Real Ale” or “special” bitters, accompanied by pork scratchings or salt and vinegar crisps. These are beers produced without any chemical additives, and avidly promoted by C.A.M.R.A. (Campaign for Real Ale). Draughts, cribbage and darts keep you going through the night after the regulars have been locked in along with the local policeman. This is the time for tales about the great days of Yorkshire County Cricket Club (which still refuses to pick anyone not born inside the county, never mind outside the country), of big winnings on the 3.30 at Ripon, or the progress of Wakefield Trinity in the John Player League Trophy. Yorkshire-men are notorious for their propensity to exaggerate, satirised by the Monty Python Team in the famous “Four Yorkshiremen” sketch – “… You were looky, we used ter live in shoebox in’t middle of road… ” “That were noothin’. Every morninl,,’Ar Dad used ter coot us In larf wit’ bread knife… ”
The County is divided into three parts known as the North, South and West Ridings. The most beautiful areas are undoubtedly the Moors (bleak, rugged plateaux, rising steeply above the surrounding countryside) immortalised in Emily Bronte’s classic novel “Wuthering Heights”, and the Dales, made popular by James Herriott in his series of books about the life of a country vet – “All Creatures Great and Small”, “It shouldn’t happen to a Vet”. Millions more were introduced to the scenic delights of its rolling hills and valleys in the resulting BBC Drama Serial. The landscape is dotted with countless ruined Abbeys (victims of the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII), pre-historic standing stones, and hilltop settlements and lined with ancient dry-stone walls. Other literary figures associated with Yorkshire include: Emily Bronte’s sister Charlotte, who wrote “Jane Eyre” – they lived together with their brother Branwell at a house in Haworth; Laurence Stern. C19 author of “Tristram Shandy”, born in Coxwold; and Bram Stoker, creator of The Dracula Story, which was actually set at Whitby. Films set in Yorkshire: “The Railway Children”, “Yanks” and “Agatha” – Agatha Christie was discovered at Harrogate.
Food in Yorkshire has a flavour of its own. Creamy, crumbly Wensleydale cheese was first made by monks. They say in Yorkshire, “apple-pie without the cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze”. So throw caution to the winds and down the two together. Pies and puddings are also very popular. Original Yorkshire pudding, made from batter, is traditionally cooked beneath Roast Beef, allowing the meat juices to drip down onto it. In the north it is eaten either as a first course, before the beef, or after it, drenched in Golden Syrup. Only barbarous and ignorant southerners put the two on the same plate.
Fish and Chips, wrapped up in newspaper is another Yorkshire favourite. The more refined serve it on a plate with the dreaded mushy peas. Plentiful supplies of fresh fish caught in the North Sea, arrive at fishing ports such as Hull. Haddock, plaice and cod are the most popular. Dales pork and Moorland lamb are to be found in many local restaurants as are Barnsley chops and black pudding, usually served for breakfast. This is in fact a heavy sausage, made from blood, pork fat and assorted herbs, served by weight and made locally by Yorkshire butchers. The taste is not as frightening as it sounds, but it also isn’t that interesting – unless you were brought up on the stuff perhaps!
Another more recent innovation in the Yorkshire diet comes in the unexpected form of Indian cuisine. An influx of immigrants from the sub-continent, who came to work in the mills and the factories, has led to the appearance of many new restaurants. On a trip to the local corner store, one is now likely to find lentils, saffron and assorted spices, alongside the more traditional black pudding and pork pies.
Harrogate
Harrogate is situated 200 miles from both London and Edinburgh, and 60 miles from the east and west coasts of England. Following the discovery of a medicinal spring known as the Tewit Well in 1571, Harrogate developed into one of Britain’s most fashionable spa towns. Visitors can still stop at the Royal Pump Room to taste a glass of the rather nauseous and sulphur-laden spa water, to which impressive curative powers have been attributed. The town is famous for its wide tree-lined avenues and grandiose public buildings and hotels (including “The International”), but is perhaps best-known for its floral gardens which seem to extend right into the centre of town. It has won awards in both the “Britain in Bloom” and “Entente Florale” competitions.
Harrogate remains a relaxing place, pleasantly cut off from any intrusion of the C20th. The town-centre is surrounded by 200 acres of greenery, known as “The Strays”, protected against development by ancient law. It lies in the heart of North Yorks, Britain’s largest county and of James Herriot Country (featured in the world-famous tales about the life of a Yorkshire vet as “Brawton”).