York Tour

1. York City Art Gallery• The city of York was founded in 71 AD by the Romans who declared the city to

be the capital of Britannia Inferior and named it ‘Iba Accum’, the place of the Yew tree.

• Before the Romans, there was no people living here, although there were many attractive qualities for settlers; for example, a good river connection to the North Sea via the River Ouse, which flows through the city. There were also large rock deposits left by the last ice age that provided strong foundations for the Romans to build on. The ancient city had theatres, forums, baths and a large burial ground that now sits right by the train station!

• If you stand with your back to the gallery and look to the left, you can see Bootham Bar, the largest of a series of gates that surround the city. The gate used to house market stalls (booths)

• The 3 statues on top of the gate represent the Lord Mayor of York, a master mason and a knight. You’ll also see the Stewart dynasty's coat of arms as well as two coats of arms representing the city of York.

• The statue outside of the gallery is of William Etty, an artist whose work is in the gallery. Etty was born in York in 1787 and was famous for his nude paintings.

(To continue, head towards Kings Manor, taking a pathway left of the building. You will be walking along an ancient part of the city’s wall. Soon you will see the Museum Gardens. Pass the remains of a tower and when you reach the T-junction in the path, this will be Point 2.)

2. Museum Gardens and Multi-Angular Tower

• The tower dates from 300 AD but it has been modified extensively over the years. The crossbow slits, for example, were added in the 13th century.• There are many Roman coffins on display near the tower which were discovered when the train

station was built. Historians believe the bodies were Roman nobles because they were buried with precious objects such as golden jewellery.

(To continue, take the pathway on your right as you face the tower, heading towards and out of the gate leading to Museum Street. Cross the street and continue down a narrow street called Lendal. Walk for about 200 metres until you reach St. Helen’s Square. This is Point 3.)

3. St. Helen’s Square• The red and white building in the square is York Mansion

house. It was built in 1726 and is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of York.• Near the square is Bettys Tea Rooms, a famous tearoom

in Yorkshire; a great place for tea and cake.• Another building in the square is St. Helen’s Church,

which is about 1000 years’old. The building has a rare lantern tower, and small fires were lit in the tower to draw attention to the church.

(To continue, head for Stone Gate, a narrow street to the left of the church. Follow the medieval street for about 100m and on the right should be Mulberry Hall. This is Point 4.)

4. Mulberry Hall• Mulberry Hall was built in 1434 and is an old Merchants

house.• Directly opposite is a plaque about Guy Fawkes, the

infamous Briton who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. He was born and grew up in York.• Stonegate was an important Roman road and you can still

see some of the coaching inns (where travellers on the road stayed for one night) here today, including Ye Old Starre Inne which was built in 1644.• Stonegate also features many alleyways, known locally as

‘snickelways’.(To continue, go along Stonegate until it emerges onto Minster Yard, just outside the southern door of York Minster. This is Point 5.)

5. York Minster• This gothic cathedral, one of the largest in the country, was

built between 1220 and 1472. It took more than 250 years to build!• Inside are many religious artworks, such as sculptures, statues,

and stained glass windows, some of which date back to the 12th century.• The 23 metre tall great east window is the largest medieval

stained glass window in the world. More than 2 million individual pieces of glass were used to make the windows of the cathedral.• To the right of the Minster is a statue of Constantine the Great,

who was the Roman Emperor here in York. There is also notice a large column which is part of the remains of the Roman Fortress.

(Follow the path around to the right of the Cathedral. Continue around to the left. Shortly, you will pass Chapter House Street on your right. Continue down the road just a little bit more in order to get to the entrance to Treasurers House.)

Constantine

6. Treasurer’s House• This beautiful house was the home of all the treasurers in

York during medieval times; the treausurs was responsible for the finances of the Abbey. The house was used in this way until 1547. After that, it was privately owned as residence until 1930s. • The houseis the most famous haunted house in York, with

many ghost sightings over the years.• In 1953, Harry Dale, a young apprentice plumber, was

working in the cellars of the building when he saw the ghost of a horse emerge from the stone wall. The horse had a rider and a soldier convoy following it. All were dressed in Roman clothing and armour.

(Retrace your steps, through the gate and out into the square ahead of you. You’ll soon see a black and white beamed building on your left. This is Point 7.)

7. St. William’s College• This building was built as a home for priests in 1461,

and today it is still owned by the minster.• St. William became archbishop of York in 1154, after an

11 year wait. The reason for the long wait was because the Pope did not like William. He deliberately delayed Williams succession for as long as possible.

(Stand with your back to the college and turn left. At the end of college street, bare right onto Goodramgate. After about 100 metres, you will notice a row of extremely old houses on the left, and just past this, the entrance to Holy Trinity Church. This is Point 8.)

8. Holy Trinity Church• If you can, try and get a look inside. The amazing stained

glass windows were created in the 15th century and the amazing box pews in the 17th century.• There is no electric lighting or heating in the building, and the

walls and floors all have unusual angles.• This church was mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1066,

although most of what you see here dates from the 13th and 14th centuries. The ancient houses in front of the church are called ‘Our Lady’s Row’ and are the oldest surviving houses in the city.

(When you are ready to move on, return to Goodramgate and continue in the same direction. After about 100 metres, bare left into King’s Square. Cross the square and then turn right into Newgate. Almost immediately on your left will be The Shambles. This is Point 9.)

9. The Shambles• The Shambles is York’s most famous street. This

street was built in the 14th century, and shows you how medieval York would have looked like.• The reasons for the overhanging houses were

1. Create more space on the upper floors2. To avoid paying too much tax; the amount of tax you

paid depended on the ground floor surface area.• This was the street which inspired Diagon Alley in the

Harry Potter films. It wasn’t possible to film on the street due to its narrowness, so the art department recreated the set to look very similar to The Shambles.

(To continue the tour, carry on along Shambles. Just before you reach the end, you’ll notice a small alleyway on the left. It’s easy to miss so be careful! Go through the alleyway and you will come out at Point 10.)

*DON’T MISS THE ALLEYWAY!*

10. Whip Ma Whop Ma Gate• This word means ‘What a Street’ and it is the shortest street in York; 32 metres long.• This is the most modern part of the city, and the buildings are therefore much newer.

(To continue the tour, turn right and then immediately right again into Pavement. Follow the road, that goes in a curve to the left, until you reach the entrance to Coppergate Walk. This is Point 11.)

11. Coppergate Walk/ Jorvik Centre• This is the nearest point on the tour to the Jorvik Viking

Centre; York’s busiest tourist attraction.• It is well known that York was once home to many

Vikings. Jorvik was its Viking name.• This Viking history was brought into focus in the 1970s

when the area was being cleared for a new shopping centre. Completely unexpectedly, archaeologists found the remains of 10th Century buildings surrounded by wet spongy layers of earth. This earth had the perfect conditions to preserve ancient objects.• During the following 6 years, 36,000 layers of earth

were studied, and an amazing 40,000 historical objects were found.

(To carry on with the tour, retrace your steps to Parliament street, turn left. At the end of Parliament Street, you will reach St. Sampson's Square and Point 12.)

Down here

12. St. Sampson’s Square• This square is a place where markets are held, and is

also a popular meeting place with pavement cafes, pubs, ice cream and hot dog stalls.

(To continue to the last part of the tour, carry on in the same direction to Blake Street. You will come across a large columned building that has been converted into a restaurant. This is Point 13.)

13. York Assembly Rooms• The York Assembly Rooms is an 18th-century assembly

rooms building and was originally used as a place for high class social gatherings in the city.• This building, now a restaurant, was designed by

Richard Boyle, the third Earl of Burlington and was built between 1730 and 1735.• The building is on Blake Street and is a Grade I listed

building which means it cannot be changed in any way. It is one of the earliest neo-classical buildings in Europe and one of the most important pieces of architecture of the early 18th century.

(This is the last part of the tour. To get back to where you started, follow the road along until you see the familiar sight of the York City art Gallery.)