York is a city like no other, where every cobble, every beam and every crooked building tells a story. A walk around the town’s historic landmarks offers glimpses into the rich and fascinating stories of York’s past. Here’s a flavour of the stories you might discover on your visit to York.
The revolting archbishop
Nobody’s quite sure what drove Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York, to join the Earl of Northumberland’s rebellion against Henry IV.
But revolt he did, openly preaching against the usurper King in York Minster. By May 1405, he’d whipped the York folks into open rebellion, and soon found himself at the head of an 8,000-strong army at Shipton Moor. However, battle never commenced. Some say Scrope was tricked, others say he surrendered. Either way, he was captured by the Earl of Westmorland and taken to Pontefract Castle to await trial. The King soon arrived, and Richard Scrope, the revolting Archbishop of York, soon found himself short of a head.
He was at least allowed to be buried at the Minster, though his tomb was covered up initially. It had become a shrine of sorts, a symbol of the North’s resistance against the throne’s injustices. It’s still there today, in an area sometimes known as Scrope’s Chapel, right below the famous East Window, the largest single glass installation in the UK. It’s just one example of the thousands of fascinating stories found in the Minster’s past. Make sure you leave enough time to explore this breathtaking building.
A macabre moniker
One of York’s most notable landmarks actually got its name after a rather unsavoury event in 1322 involving a chap from another North Yorkshire town. Roger, the young and recently assumed Lord of Skipton Castle, found himself in league with Thomas of Lancaster and other noble lords of the North.
They were angry with Edward II’s rule and rebellion soon ensued. Roger, still just 22 years old, led the rebel army at the Battle of Boroughbridge. Inexperience showed, and an ill-advised cavalry charge saw him gravely wounded.
Roger was brought to the motte-and-bailey castle at York, and despite his wounds, found no mercy from Edward II. He was executed and left hanging from the castle’s walls for all to see. So went Roger de Clifford, 2nd Lord of Skipton. The castle where he died has been known as Clifford’s Tower ever since.
You can explore the tower, now managed by English Heritage, and discover more of the gripping and grisly events that took place there over the years. The views from the top are magnificent, and you can get around it all in under an hour – leaving you plenty of time to unearth more of York’s past.
700 years of wheeling and dealing
If you wanted to climb York’s social ladder in the 14th century, cloth was the way to go. The mercers of York imported fine cloths and exported locally produced wool. York Minster was a major customer, and the mercers did very well for themselves, using their superior incomes to grow their social standing.
One such mercer, John de Gisburn, took his social climbing particularly seriously. His ambitious scheming saw him serve three terms as Lord Mayor, and marry off his daughters to the wealthiest suitors he could find. His ambition ruffled more than a few feathers among the local merchants, but he was able to get along with the city’s other prominent mercers long enough to establish the York Mercers’ Guild.
Remarkably, the building still stands. It’s one of the oldest timber-framed buildings in the UK. What’s more, it’s exceptionally well preserved and still serves its original purpose. It’s now the guild hall for the Company of Merchant Adventurers, which the York Mercer’s Guild became after being given a royal charter in 1581 by Elizabeth I.
The Merchant Adventurer’s Hall is full of stories and artefacts from almost 700 years of York’s entrepreneurs. It has a great little cafe and offers a surprisingly peaceful escape from the bustling streets. Enjoy some downtime and explore the history of the people who made York the commercial hub it is today.
An unknown monster
In the year 1800, three women stood in a nondescript field on the south coast of England. One of them was holding an 18-month old girl. A storm brewed, and the group was struck by lightning. The three women died. The baby survived. Her parents would always say this was why she was so different to everyone else. Before the lightning strike, she was lethargic and sickly. Afterwards, she was lively and intelligent. In fact, she would go on to change the world.
The girl’s father was a cabinet maker. Not a very successful one, apparently. The family was destitute. However, he did have a side hustle of sorts, collecting and selling strange rocks found on the rocky beach near their home. The young girl and her brother became his apprentices. Sadly, the father died in 1810, leaving the family on the brink. But the girl and her brother soon unearthed something that would change their lives. It was a skull. The four-foot-long skull of a monster. Over the next two years, they found the rest of the body. The body of what? Nobody knew.
Nobody knew until later that she had discovered a marine reptile that lived 200 million years ago. Nobody knew how profoundly her discoveries would impact science and religious belief. Nobody knew that 200 years later, the world would celebrate her.
But celebrate her we do. She was of course, Mary Anning, the mother of palaeontology. And you can discover her story, along with an array of breathtaking fossils, at the Yorkshire Museum, just a stone’s throw away from Lendal Tower across the Museum Gardens.
The space race of the 1930s
Just like the US and Soviets’ battle to break beyond our atmosphere, the steam locomotive wars of the 1920s and 30s spawned rapid and profound technological advances as well as fierce competition
Steam locomotives were the ultimate marker of industrial strength, central to the movement of goods and people, symbols of engineering prowess. Britain, the US and Germany all had designs on building the biggest, fastest and most beautiful trains.
The decision to drive a train faster than ever before seems almost to have been a spur-of-the-moment decision. The designer, Sir Nigel Gresley, Chief Engineer at LNER, designer of the legendary ‘Flying Scotsman’, wasn’t driven so much by noble ideals. Rather, he simply wanted to beat the English steam record of 114mph set by rival company, LMS. Perhaps he never actually intended for the driver, John Duddington, to thrash the train so hard that it would beat the world record of 124.5mph set by a German train two years before.
But beat it they did. And you can see the marvel of engineering that did it (known, of course, as the Mallard), up close, as it sits gleaming alongside dozens more famous engines in the National Railway Museum. A fantastic (and free) way to while away a few hours.
Honourable mentions
Jorvik Viking Centre – immerse yourself in one of the most iconic eras of British history, in the capital of Viking England.
York Castle Museum – Walk the streets of England as they were 400 years ago, an experience a dynamic range of contemporary exhibits.
The Shambles – take a stroll along the best-preserved medieval street in Europe, calling in at all manner of weird and wonderful shops on your way.
York is a city of a million stories. So many grand old buildings, each living and breathing with the stories of their past. We’ve barely scratched the surface here. To truly appreciate York’s uniquely astounding history, you’ve got to experience it for yourself. While you’re at it, you might as well stay in a piece of York’s past. Lendal Tower has a colourful history as part of York’s fabric, and there’s no better place from which to explore this city of wonders.
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