City Walls - General, York

2 more images

York, an original walled city, still has some of the most complete city walls in England. These give great views over the city and York Minster.

The walls date back, in some parts, to the original laying of foundations in 71 AD when Romans built a fort on the banks of the River Ouse and formed the city's defences.

The walls are a Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade I listed building.

The city walls are open from 8:00am in the morning until dusk. The closing process starts at Fishergate Postern and travels in an anti-clockwise direction, taking about one hour.

4 more images

York's ancient walls were first built by the Romans. Most of them date back to the Middle Ages. They remain almost intact. Most other European cities pulled down their old walls as they grew and modernized. But the Industrial Age by-passed York, leaving its medieval character much as it was.

Stolling along York's walls provides an excellent preview of the city's attractions. It's also a good way to get some exercise, without taking time out from sightseeing. Most of the walkway is narrow, but level and quite safe.

York has more miles of intact city walls than anywhere else in England, some of them are from Roman times still.

The city is not completely surrounded by walls but it is still a very nice walk around the town to follow the walls. The walls and its gates ("bars") are all from different centuries, the majority of it dates back to the 12th to the 14th century though.

Walking on top of the wall surrounding Old York.
I walked the whole wall. It's complete and gives a good view of York. It probably took me an hour or so to walk it. If I remember correctly, one or two of the gates contained little museums. Check out the webiste to take a virtual walk of the walls.

2 more images

The city wall is free to walk and you get to see so much of the city. The walk is easy, the hardest part are the stairs up to the top level. It doesn't go all the way around the city. There is a section missing. At each tower, there are stairs down and some sort of museum or informational place (not all of them are free). Great fews, took the best pictures.

4 more images

The city walls of York were built to defend the City in the 13th/14th Centuries. They are the best preserved medieval walls in Britain. If you walk around the walls from the Bootham bar area, you can get some good views of the Minster, the views are probably the best in the winter when there are not so many leaves on the trees though! The wide ditch surrounding the walls once occupied a moat which was created in medieval times.

As soon as you walk out of York railway station you see the city walls and they are probably at their best in the inner city at this point as they are beautifully landscaped and have attractive flower beds. The walls that surround York are some of the finest and most complete city walls in England. They extend for 2.5 miles and enclose an area of 263 acres. The walls still retain all four of their impressive gateways into the city, called bars, as well as 34 of their 39 interval towers.
There are street level information plaques dotted around the city telling visitors the history of the section of wall they are at. With the exception of part of Gillygate the walls can all be followed at street level so if you are disabled or afraid of heights you can at least see the walls in part.
The walls are free to access but close at dusk or if there is a risk of ice. Visitors must be aware some of the drops on the open side of the walls walkways are quite high so be careful!
See the official website for more details.

4 more images

A walk on the walls is a must do activity on any visit to York. Although they don't fully encircle the city, the walls extend 2.5 miles. They also still retain their gateways (bars) into the city.

From the walls you get many good views of the city. The best being on the stretches of wall next to the Minster & Railway Station.

The walls are free & are open every day except Christmas day. They also close when there is a risk of icy conditions. Opening times are from 8.00 am until dusk.