After our lovely tea time at Betty’s on Monday September 18th we walked to Bootham Bar to head up the stairs to the City Walls. York still has most of the walls that surrounded the city 700 years ago. We walked from Bootham just past Monk Bar and descended down onto Peasholme Green to St. Saviours Place to St. Saviours Gate and finally to Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma to go into The Shambles.
Bootham Bar
We only ran into a few other people on the walls and that was nice. We again were thankful that the weather was wonderful for this evening walk.
Approaching Monk Bar…
We descended these stairs to get to the street level to get a better view of Monk Bar, below.
Monk Bar is the largest and most ornate of the bars, it dates from the early 14th century. It was a self-contained fortress, with each floor capable of being defended.
We then ascended the walls again and continued on to their end on to the east corner and as far on the walls that we would go on this evening.
This eastern section of the walls had this plaque on the walkway. The place where medieval Jews buried their dead in York has long been called Jewbury. There was a thriving Jewish community here in the 13th century. The history of the treatment of Jews in York is a tragic one. I found this article about some of the tragic treatment of the Jews.
In the Middle Ages, a massacre of the Jewish population took place at Clifford’s Tower, pictured above. Clifford’s Tower is in the Southern section of the city center.
We had our first views of York Minster from the walls and later in this evening we saw it up close.
On Tuesday we did a hop on hop off tour and saw the wall from a different perspective.
Walmgate Bar.
Micklegate Bar was historically the main entrance to the city for anyone arriving from the south, and particularly, the gate through which visiting Royals would pass.
There is so much history in York and it’s hard to capture it all in one visit. We just touched the surface while we were there.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
Wonderful tour of York, the historical buildings and walls. Great photos of you and your family.
Take care, have a great day and a happy weekend!
…they built things to last.
Stunning pictures. I really liked the one of the 4 of you with the – is that a cathedral? – behind you. Micklegate is gorgeous! And what a great idea to take a bus tour to get a different perspective. hen we got home from Israel, I found aerial photos of some of the places w visited just to get an idea of where we were in relation to other places.
How fun to be able to explore these places with your son and daughter -in-law!
York is extraordianry as are your photos! I’m so happy to see the smiling faces and the clear day for your visit. So happy to hear you went to Betty’s! How lovely. Happy weekend to you, Ellen!
Oh my heart! I have walked that whole wall around York!
We love York!
Were you able to grab a cup of coffee at Gatehouse Coffee at Walmgate Bar? It is run by the local Bible School.
Beautiful images of York. The city walls are wonderful. Jews have suffered persecution for so many centuries.
What a perfect day to walk the walls. So much history there. As I type this comment my youngest is currently staying in York for the weekend. I daresay he’ll be walking the walls too but sadly in rather more blustery conditions. B x
Wow, what a tour you took us through. So much history. So nice that you could do that with your son and daughter in law
Love this beautiful trip you are taking us on!