UK: Medieval York

York is about a 2 1/2 hour train ride north of London and lies midway between London and Edinburgh. 

York is a medieval walled city and holds almost 2,000 years of history within its walls. 

The Romans built the city in 71 AD.

After about 800 years the Vikings captured York in 866 AD. Contrary to the popular belief of Vikings, the ones that settled in York were mainly a peaceful bunch. They farmed the land and were great craftsmen, traders, artists, engineers and shipbuilders. Over the one hundred years that York was under Viking rule the city prospered. 

The city was incorporated in the 12th century and for a while was only second in size and importance to London. 

York also boasts that it is the cathedral city of the archbishop of York and has historically been the ecclesiastical capital of northern England. 

York has been a walled city since Roman times, but the current stone walls surrounding the old city are not the original Roman walls. These "new" walls were built between the 12th and 14th centuries.

Along the walls are "gatehouses", or "bars" (but, not bars of the alcoholic type) for entry into the old city.

There are 4.5 km (2.8 miles) of walls encircling the old city that people can walk along.

Within the walls is one of York's claims to fame - the York Minster. 

It is the largest medieval Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe!

York’s Minster is a masterpiece in stained glass and stone. It was built between the 13th and the 15th century. Workers who started work on it would never see its completion. Likewise, those completing it would have never seen the beginning. Over 200 years of construction would have provided a lifetime of work for many generations. 

  

Here's another piece of trivia for your next cocktail party: an ancient local law ensures that the historical York Minster remains among the tallest building in the city. The Gothic-style cathedral towers over the old part of York, at a height of 235 feet. 

There has been a rolling programme of restoration work at the 800-year-old cathedral since the late 18th century. There is a permanent masons’ workshop with a team of 16 masons working up to 50 tonnes of stone each year. They currently have four stonemasonry apprentices who will each spend four years training to become qualified masons.

Each stone is hand-carved in the workshop using mallets and chisels, as their medieval predecessors would have done. The main development in the last century has been the introduction of mechanical techniques for lifting and sawing stones.

Ok, another piece of useless trivia (best used only when appropriate): each mason has their own unique ‘mason’s mark’ – a symbol carved into each stone they finish. Historically, they were used to indicate that a piece of work was completed so that the mason could be paid. Mason marks have been found on stones in parts of the cathedral dating back to 1154! The same mason marks have also been found on other local churches, showing they travelled from building to building for work. (Ok, I'm a bit of a History Geek. Who knew!?!?)

Queen Elizabeth II is a new addition to the outside of the Cathedral. (If you scroll up there are 2 pictures of the front of the cathedral where you can see it above the door and to the right. It gives you an idea of the scale and massiveness of the building.)

It was unveiled in November 2022 by King Charles III, two months after the Queen's death. The 6ft 7in (2m) tall sculpture was intended to mark the late monarch's Platinum Jubilee and was completed a month before her death. The statue weighs almost two tonnes. This is a closeup of a model inside the cathedral.

Entering the Cathedral is pretty impressive. 

The stonework and attention to detail is phenomenal.

The ceilings are fantastic!

There are beautiful enormous stained glass windows. 

They are very proud of this 13th-century window. This photo shows the scale and how huge it is!

The window was removed during the First World War to protect it during the Zeppelin raids. (Removing it would have been an amazing feat in itself!) It was then restored between 1923 and 1925 and re-dedicated as York Minster’s Five Sisters Window, in memory of all 1,513 women of the British Empire who lost their lives during the First World War. 

Just outside the Minster and still inside the city walls is Shambles. It is one of the best-preserved (and popular) medieval  shopping streets in Europe.

 

With its narrow cobbled streets, snickelways (short passageways), and overhanging buildings, it is believed to have been the inspiration behind Diagon Alley from the movie adaptation of the Harry Potter series. 

Although none of the original shop-fronts have survived from medieval times, some properties still have exterior wooden shelves, reminders of when cuts of meat were served from the open butchershop windows.  Another piece of trivia: The street was purposely made narrow to keep the meat out of direct sunlight!

We found a little "snickelway" that made John and I look very tall.

As an aside, chocolate production is another claim to fame of York's with many delicious specialty shops scattered throughout the walled city. Both John and I have a sweet tooth, but much to our credit, we did not indulge!