Bootham Bar, York City Walls. (John Oxley FSA, City Archaeologist)

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1 W a l l e d C i t i e s & O p e n S o c i e t i e s : M a n a g i n g H i s t o r i c W a l l s i n U r b a n W o r l d H e r i t a g e P r o p e r t i e s Siena, Italy January 2017 Bootham Bar, York City Walls (John Oxley FSA, City Archaeologist) York (UK) Info sheet i

2 1. G e n e r a l i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h e c i t y The City of York Local Authority area covers approximately 272 square kilometres. It is characterised by a compact urban area surrounded by several small settlements. The compactness of the main urban area is a key feature of the city. York had a population of 198,051 people in the 2011 census. The historic environment of the City of York is of international, national, regional and local significance. This is recognised through the national statutory designations that apply to heritage assets in the City of York (35 Conservation Areas, 24 scheduled ancient monuments, nearly 2000 listed buildings). In 2010 applied to be placed on the new UK Tentative List of World Heritage Sites. Although unsuccessful, the Expert Panel encouraged York to submit a revised application when the UK Tentative List is reviewed again. The city s wealth of historic attractions forms the cornerstone of the city s visitor economy. Key heritage and visitor sites include York Minster, York City Walls, Jorvik, Yorkshire Museum and Museum Gardens, National Railway Museum and the network of historic streets and buildings dating from the Roman period to the present day. The city s economy is based on a service industry including both tourism as well as knowledge-based industries. The city attracts 7 million visitors per year. 2. B a s i c d e s c r i p t i o n a n d b r i e f h i s t o r y o f t h e w a l l s York City Walls are some 3.5km long. There are 45 towers, five major gateways, a small postern gate and ten 18th century or later archways including two unique railway bridges. York City Walls represent the longest, most complete town defences in the UK. There is also a second set of 13th century walls that form the perimeter precinct wall of St Mary s Abbey. The earliest evidence of fortification is provided by the arrival of the Roman Ninth Legion in 71AD and the construction of a legionary fortress. The defensive features of the legionary fortress evolved over the next three centuries. More than 50% of the line of the fortress defences either form part of or are preserved under the medieval defences between Museum Street, the Multangular Tower, Robin Hood s Tower and the Merchant Taylor s Hall. Significant elements are visible in the contemporary townscape. It is also possible that the Roman civil town on the south-east bank of the Ouse in the Bishophill area was also defended. In the post-roman, pre-viking period (c410 AD to c 876 AD) there is no clear evidence for development or adaptation of the defences round the historic core. During the 9th and 10th centuries it is probable that key extensions to the defences were made (a) between the legionary fortress and the River Ouse where Lendal Bridge now stands (b) between the north east corner tower of the legionary fortress and the River Foss (Merchant Taylors Hall to Layerthorpe) and a possible extension at (c) in Walmgate. The medieval defences emerge in the form in which they exist today in the modern townscape from Siena, Italy January 2017 (page 2)

3 the 11th century onwards. York Castle and the Old Baille are built by William the Conqueror in AD The construction of York Castle is accompanied by the formation of a dam across the mouth of the Foss Valley. This created an artificial lake which extended from what is now Castle Mills Bridge to Foss Islands Road, Osbaldwick Beck and Monk Bridge in the Foss Valley. This lake, the Kings Fishpool, meant that it was not necessary to construct defences between Red Tower and Layerthorpe (the modern Foss Islands Road). The main gateways into the historic core (apart from Monk Bar) are all constructed in stone by the early 12th century. During the 13th and 14th centuries the defences are completed with the addition of stone walls to the top of the rampart. York is the only place in the UK where town walls are constructed on the apex of the rampart. Chains were installed which could be raised and lowered between Lendal Tower and Barker Tower on the north and Davy Tower and Skeldergate Postern on the south side of the historic city. These controlled access to the city up and down the River Ouse. In AD1266 St Marys Abbey was granted a license to crenellate. The walls around the abbey date from the late 13th century and represent both an ecclesiastical precinct and an additional defensive feature on the north side of the historic city. During the medieval period, the walls were a physical expression of the importance and role of the city and York Corporation. They controlled access into the city; they allowed the collection of taxes and regulation of trade; they were the focus of ceremony and display. They stood as a secular counterpoint to the looming presence of the Minster, St Mary's Abbey and the other ecclesiastical precincts that dominated the medieval city. The City Walls were on occasion prepared for but rarely used for actual defence. It was not until AD 1644 and the Siege of York during the Civil War that the walls were properly utilised for their defensive qualities. The walls were hastily repaired, houses around the outside of the walls and on the arterial roads were demolished and defensive outworks were constructed. Many of these outworks were captured by the besieging Parliamentary armies and turned into siegeworks. With the exception of the lazily rebuilt Marygate Tower, very little evidence of the siege of York is visible in the townscape today. In the 18th century York became prominent as the centre for social, sporting and intellectual life in the North. Many eminent people came to York and the City was immortalised in many celebrated works. Parts of the Walls were regularly used as a walk in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. York grew rapidly throughout the Victorian period and by 1850 was the centre of a large and expanding railway network. The coming of the railways had a significant impact on the Walls when the railway station was constructed inside the City Wall circuit and arches were made in the Walls to allow trains through. The railway pioneer and Lord Mayor of York, George Hudson, promoted the creation of Victoria Bar. The City Walls had two narrow escapes in the nineteenth century. In 1800 the Corporation of York resolved to demolish the Walls and, despite refusal of permission from George III, short stretches of Wall, three posterns and all barbicans with the exception of that at Walmgate Bar were taken down. This led to supporters for the retention of the Walls forming the York Footpath Association. This group raised money and restore sections of the Walls. In 1855, the Board of Health Committee proposed to demolish a large part of the Walls between the Red Tower and Walmgate Bar to improve the locality. They argued that the Walls prevented the free circulation of air and were therefore a health hazard. Thankfully, this proposal was never carried through. The Corporation of York also restored much of Siena, Italy January 2017 (page 3)

4 the Walls and Bars during this period. The industry in York that had developed during the Victorian period changed little in the first half of the twentieth century. The latter part of the century saw the growth in tourism and the decline of industry that has continued into the first years of the twenty-first century. Today the Walls are a key heritage attraction for the City and are visited by an estimated 1 million people a year. 3. C u r r e n t f u n c t i o n s a n d m a n a g e m e n t / g o v e r n a n c e f r a m e w o r k York City Walls and St Mary s Abbey Walls are all in the ownership of City of York Council. City of York Council is responsible for all aspects of management of York City Walls and St Mary s Abbey Walls. These include: formulation and implementation of conservation programmes; day to day maintenance; floodlighting; leasing of properties; grounds maintenance; all aspects of health and safety; opening and closing wall-walk on a daily basis; engagement with community groups, leaseholders and other stakeholders; formulation and implementation of interpretation initiatives and events. City of York Council currently funds all conservation programmes on York City Walls. Average annual expenditure on conservation and day-today maintenance is currently around ( EUR), although this can rise and fall depending on the scale of work that is carried out in each year. Management of York City Walls is guided and informed by a number of policy documents: Baseline Structural Condition Survey (1991); Conservation Management Plan, (2004); Interpretation and Access Plan (2004); Heritage Topic Paper (2013); City of York Local Plan (in prep.). City of York Council does not have a single post dedicated to City Walls management. Instead, management responsibility is divided between a number of separate departments and individuals. There is an Officer Coordination Group that meets quarterly. This group includes representatives from the Friends of York Walls and Historic England. The Friends of York Walls was established in It leases a tower on York City Walls which it intends to develop as a community-operated walls interpretation centre. City of York has recently entered into a long-lease with a community organisation for Red Tower. This will be developed into a community facility for meetings and events on York City Walls. Siena, Italy January 2017 (page 4)

5 4. M a i n c h a l l e n g e s a n d o p p o r t u n i t i e s c o n c e r n i n g w a l l s m a n a g e m e n t There are four main questions/ challenges concerning York City Walls: How will City of York Council meet the mounting cost of conservation work? How can we improve physical and intellectual access to the city walls? How can we attract external funding for the walls to improve them as an attraction? How do we establish a network of partners and stakeholders to assist in meeting these challenges? Therefore, the principal challenges over the next five years will be to successfully address and answer these questions. 5. M a i n p a s t, o n - g o i n g o r p l a n n e d a c t i v i t i e s f o r e n h a n c i n g t h e w a l l s It is estimated that there will be potential repair costs of up to 1m over the next four years (17/18 to 20/21), including conservation projects (a) on the section of wall walk between Bootham Bar and Robin Hood s Tower and (b) to address conservation problems in the area from St Leonards Hospital to the Anglian Tower. In addition, City of York Council will actively explore a number of ambitions and initiatives including: i) Access for all to either (a) at least one section of the existing wall or (b) to a new section of wallwalk (see iii) below); ii) An alternative wall-walk at ground level around the city walls - the Rampart Walk; iii) A new City Walls Visitor Centre - to be created through adaptive reuse of the St Leonard s ruins and enclosure of the area behind York Explore. It would provide a visitor centre, café / restaurant, viewing platform at roof level within the Multangular Tower, and access to a new section of fully accessible wall-walk; iv) A new interpretation plan for the city walls - to include 3D model, augmented reality, mobile app, access all areas tours; v) A five year programme of professional and community research on the walls and ramparts that will include some or all of the following: collate all existing evidence; digitise archival material; undertake geophysical survey on ramparts; crowd source photography and professional aerial data Siena, Italy January 2017 (page 5)

6 for 3D modelling; excavate backfilled trenches; excavate new trenches designed to answer specific research questions; restore to working order of either Monk Bar or Bootham Bar portcullis; create a programme of arts events - visual, musical, theatrical on York City Walls culminating in 2022 with a month-long Walls festival. Fig 1. York City Walls and St Mary s Abbey Walls. i This document has been drafted by the City of York. Authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this paper and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization Siena, Italy January 2017 (page 6)