York city walls

York’s city walls form the most complete circuit of any English town, stretching for nearly two miles around the heart of the city. Built first by the Romans in about 71 AD, the walls have been rebuilt and extended through the centuries but still stand where they were first laid out. Sections of the original Roman foundations remain inside later stonework, especially near the Multangular Tower in the Museum Gardens. The walls rise about four metres high and are nearly two metres thick, wide enough for a broad walkway along the top. Four medieval gatehouses punctuate the circuit, each once controlling entry to the city and collecting tolls from travellers. The walls tell the story of York’s defences from Roman times to the 19th century. After the Romans, the Danes repaired the walls in the 9th century, leaving only the Multangular Tower standing. In the 13th and 14th centuries medieval builders raised the circuit around the whole city, adding ditches sixty feet wide and ten feet deep. During the Civil War the walls were strengthened by Parliamentarians, and in the 18th and 19th centuries the Victorians widened the walkway and rebuilt battlements. Musket loops from the 17th century still mark some stretches, and the Robin Hood Tower was added in 1889. Walking the walls today offers changing views of the city and its buildings. From the top you can see the spires of the Minster above rooftops to the south-west and the red brick of the Red Tower to the east. The walk passes Barker Tower beside the Ouse, then climbs past Baile Hill before turning back towards the Museum Gardens. The Multangular Tower stands in the gardens, its ten sides rising above grass and trees. Along the way the medieval gatehouses—Bootham Bar, Monk Bar, Walmgate Bar and Micklegate Bar—mark the old entrances, each with its own history of sieges and repairs.