A Map of the Walls

Visited 19 March 2006

This map is displayed at the entrances to the walls (typically at the bar gates).  We started at the oldest gate, Bootham Bar (about at the 11:00 position) and proceeded clockwise.   As you can see, the walls are not contiguous today (nor were they after the Romans left).  Note the sharp right angle above the Minster where the Roman rectangular fort once was.  As the town expanded past the old Roman fort, the town assumed the rivers and swamps would be adequate protection.  Except for the Viking invasion (which came partially by boat up the rivers from the North Sea), they were right.

York is York because of its position near where the two rivers come together, just past the bottom of our picture.  Before roads went anywhere, this spot with two rivers was key to controlling the North of England.

These walls reflect some of the history of York; let's pretend for a minute that this map is a clock:  The Romans first built walls to surround their fort between 11:00 and 1:00.  From 3:00 to 5:00, those who sided with Parliament (against King James), battered the walls with cannons during the 1644 Civil War.  Over 500 years earlier, William the Conqueror had constructed a fort at 6:00 to try to subdue Yorkers with force and terror (he succeeded but pretty much had to destroy the Anglo-Saxon village to save it; his successors built forts of stone).  At about 8:00, various heads of kings and king wannabes were displayed at the city gate as the 30 year War of the Roses (starting in 1455) played its bloody way out (York lost).

Lost? If so, click here for a good map of the York Walls (in PDF format)

For more narrative on York, see our description web page by clicking here.