Close-ups of the Red Tower

Visited 19 March 2006

Here's a closer look of the Red Tower.  It got it's name since it is the only tower built of brick -- with four feet walls in some places.  The limestone used in the other towers was too heavy for a building with swampy foundations.  The building was a factory in the 19th century and was called the Brimstone House (perhaps they were making sermons?)

The southern portion of the walls experienced a lot of trauma during the English civil war as this was a bit of a Royalist Stronghold:  When Parliament started giving James I a hard time, he set up his court in York.  Two years after he left town (1644), 40,000 parliamentarians began the siege of York.  After some ups and downs on both sides, the town surrendered after about two months of pounding.  Luckily one of the generals on the winning side was from Yorkshire and kept the victors from destroying the town's churches.

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.