Gleaston Castle, Aldingham

Gleaston Castle
Aldginham
Cumbria

Gleaston Castle is situated about two miles West of Aldingham, with Scales to the North and Gleaston to the South. The castle sits in a field attached to a large farm. It is not accessable due to the ruinous state of the remains, but can be viewed extremely clearly from the road to the East.

Above. View of the South East tower.

In 1297 John de Harrington I, Lord of Aldingham and Muchland began the construction of what is now the South-west Tower and part of the west wall ending with another tower, although the site had been inhabited since the early part of the 13th century.

In 1325, the building of the present day castle was started by either John de Harrington I or his son John de Harrington II. The building work was completed in around 1340. The castle was inhabited by the de Harrington family for 118 years until, in 1457, William de Harrington, last Lord Harrington of Aldingham and Muchland, died with no heir. The castle and estate passed to Lord William Bonvilla and eventually passed by marriage to Thomas Grey, great-grandfather of Lady Jane Grey. It was during this time that the castle gradually fell into rapid decay. Thomas Preston purchased the castle and ‘renovated’ one of the towers in which he lived for a number of years.

Above. Another view of the South East tower.

The Preston family retained ownership of the castle until around 1639 when it seems that a Richard Gaitskell was living in the castle, possibly occupying one of the South towers. He may have occupied the site until the 1690's.

The ruin later passed to the Cavendish family, and was sold by Lord Richard Cavendish of Holker Hall to Thomas Barton Jackson, of Bolton Manor, Urswick, a local farmer, on the 14th February 1920. It was bought by William Simpson Webster Snr in 1926 and is currently owned by his son, William Simpson Webster Jnr and is still part of a working farm.The castle is a very simple lay out, with a large curtain wall running the full circuit of the castle, two corner towers, one at the South West corner and one a the South East corner, a large keep at the North West corner, and a gateway through the East wall. The state of the remains vary considerably. The keep is fairly ruinous and now consists of two ruined walls with no roof. The corner towers have both been incorporated into the farm buildings, and are still fairly solid. The curatin wall on the road side has been demolished and only a dry stone walls survives in its place. The North wall and the South wall are both now gone, and only portions of the West and East wall survive. All in all, it's a spectacular castle, with substantial, if ruined, remains.

Above. View of the South West tower.

Near to this site are the remains of Aldingham motte and bailey castle, and Aldingham Grange, the remains of a moated manor house.

Above. View of the South West tower (left) and the West tower (right)

2007 photos of Gleaston Castle.

Above. View of the Eastern portion of the curtain wall, now built into the field wall\farm boundary.

The wall that seperates the road from the castle courtyard is made up of the lower few feet of the remains of the curtain wall....either in its original make-up, or rebuilt for this purpose. Part of the wall has also been incorporated into the cow barn that is built on the verge of the road.

This photo shows the remains of the North East tower...now in a very ruinous state. The sandstone window still remains in-situ, as is the case on many of the higher windows in the castle ruins.

The South East tower remains are also in a perilous state.

The rear of the South East tower is still intact enough to be able to see passageways, windows and walkways built within the walls.

There still appears to have been no work done on the remains at Gleaston castle by English Heritage, although judging by the state of the ruins, it would not only be a costly exercise, it would be a challenging project for anyone to undertake.

Castle Howe, Kendal

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Trainford Brow, nr Clifton

Trainford Brow Long Cairn,
Nr Clifton,
Cumbria

Less than fifty yards to the West of the A6, where the road way crosses over the M6 motorway, about 1 mile outside of Clifton, lays the Trainford Brow long cairn. At first glance, the mound of earth looks little more than that, a long mound of earth following the path of the minor road to Lowther.

Above. A view of the cairn looking West.

In reality however, it's likely that this is a Neolithic Long Cairn or Bank Barrow. The earthworks are 101 metres long, and point in an East Westerly direction. Its width varies between 13 and 28 metres, and it stands to a height of between 1.5 and 3.8 metres.

Above. A view along the top of the cairn, looking East.

Long Cairns\Bank Barrows are earth work burial sites, usually containing human remains in small pockets of earth, rather than in chambers as is the case in larger barrows. The Trainford Brow long cairn was first noticed in 1933, and visited in 1938, when it was it was described as a likely burial cairn.

Above. A view of the cairn, again, looking West.

There's still some argument that this is nothing more than a spoil heap from the neighbouring road and motorway, and curiously enough, a map of 1863 makes no mention of the cairn!!

Medieval settlement, Selside

Medieval settlement\moated site
Nr Selside
Cumbria

This site is about four miles outside Kendal, about a mile North East of Selside. Parking up on the left hand side of the road, the public footpath disapears through the wall to the right, down towards the river Mint. About 200 yards down the footpath, across the new route of the gas pipeline (watch the barbed wire!!!) and the site is on your right hidden in a copse of trees. It's very boggy to the East of the site, so make sure you've got your wellies with you!!

The moated enclosure can be dated somewhere between 1066 and 1544, quite a large time frame I know, but it may have been inhabited, deserted and the inhabited again.

Charcoal burning pit?

The site consists of an inner bank running around two thirds of a moated island, a single earth bank on the South East side, and a double earth bank on the North West. The island is accessable from the North corner, but apparently traces of a causeway have been found in the Western corner.....although I couldn't find these remains!!!

There are feint earthwork remains on the island (now merely a raised area in a boggy marshy area) To the South East of the moated area, lay the remains of the long house.

These are by far the most impressive part of this site, and survive in places, to around a meter and a half high. There are definitely two rooms to the long house, with piles of slate rubble where the walls have otherwise collapsed. The remains of a charcoal burning pit have apparently been found in the area, although I was unable to track this feature down.

I'm not sure if the moated site was a defencible structure, or just an enclosure for keeping animals. However, it was quite an impressive site at the end of a pleasant woodland walk.

Berry Holme Round cairn, Helsington

Berry Holme Round Cairn
Helsington
Nr Kendal
Cumbria

Now this is a strange one, in that I'm not 100% certain that the object that appears in these photographs, is actually the cairn. The day that I went searching for this site, I was only able to find these slight landmarks in the area in which the maps pointed. If you know otherwise, please let me know.

The cairn is directly in front of the small shelter.

Berry Holme round cairn, is a small burial cairn situated to the West of the A6 dual carriageway, on the public footpath that leads to Brigsteer about two miles to the West. The cairn is a simple mound about 1.3 metres high, is oval in shape and has a scooped area to its side containing rubble. The cairn would have contained one or more burials, which may still be there if the site hasn't been robbed.

The cairn is directly behind the shelter on the right.

The cairn has a small hut\shelter built into its side (no antiquity) and this has partially destroyed the site on one side. The cairn is a bronze age structure, so is probably between 4500 and 2500 years old. Difficult to date!!

Dalton Deserted Medieval settlement

Dalton Deserted Medieval Settlement,
Burton In Kendal
Cumbria

About half a mile and to the East of Burton In Kendal, just off the A6070, lay the remains of the medieval settlement of Dalton. The remains are to the left and right of the driveway that leads to Dalton Old Hall (and the remains of the pele tower there) The settlement would have been inhabited anywhere between 1066 and 1540, and would have been an extensive collection of buildings, enclosures, trackways and farm land\field systems.

Above.Field boundary (?)

The remains that can be seen today are quite impressive. There are entire trackways and paths visible, marked out with stone curbs, standing stones and depressions. There are building platforms with some foundation stone work now visible through the soil and grass. Ridge and Furrow remains and lynchets can still be seen at several points on the site (Lynchets are banks of soil at the end of a field that is ploughed over time) (Ridge and Furrow consists of long raised ridges seperated by ditches used to prepare fields for cultivation)

Above. Possible hut circle or enclosure remains.

Enclosures can still be seen in several places. Either as depressions in the earth, or with stones still marking where foundations are buried.

Above.Trackway.

There are also the remains of building platforms, large square or rectangular areas where the earth has been compacted to allow the placing of a large building.

The site is remarkably well preserved, considering that it probably wasn't occupied after 1540, over 460 years ago. The settlement probably stretched far to the East and the West, but the best remains are in the small area to the east of the drive way to Dalton Old Hall and its pele tower remains.

There are numerous deserted medieval settlements in Cumbria, but most either display no evidence, or slight crop marks, only occasionaly visible. Docker a few miles outside of Kendal was reputedly quite a large settlement. The site is next to the railway, and it's likely that any visible remains were destroyed when the lines were laid and the road bridge built. The only other deserted settlement that I've been able to photograph, was Helsington, and even then, the remains were slight crop marks of a long rectangular building, possibly a long house, with two rooms, and some more slight indentations in the field surface.

Above. Helsington Deserted Medieval settlement.

The photo above possibly shows the earthwork remains of the long house at Helsington, or it could simply be the remains of some sort of enclosure. The field in which these remains are sited, is full of slight impressions in the soil, possibly more buildings and trackways. This settlement also dates from around 1066 to 1540, although these dates are only a broad time frame between which the settlement may or may not have been inhabited. There are apparently further earthworks, perhaps relating to the same settlement, 200 metres to the South below the farm buildings.

There are further sites at Mint in Kendal, on the banks of the river near Morrisons. Scalthwaiterrigg on the other side of the road and in a field over the other side of the road from Skelsmergh church. As with Docker, there are no visible remains.

Killington Hall, Killington

Killington Hall
Killington
Cumbria

Killington Hall lays in the small village of Killington sandwiched between Sedbergh and the M6 motorway. The hall is sited opposite the 14th century church of All Saints down a private road. It's attached to a 17th century hall house and is a ruinous state. It's likely that the church is of the same period, and may once have acted as the Manorial chapel to the hall and its residents.

Built in the early 1400's, probably by the Pickering family, the original pele tower was sited over the top of an earlier 14th century moated site, and consisted of a three storey defensive structure.

Above. Floor plan of Killington Hall. 

The crenellations have long since gone, as has most of the top floor, presenting us today with the empty shell of the tower, attached to the 17th century hall or manor house.

The tower, still attached to the house which is inhabited to this day, has no structure within its walls, except for the timber remains of a 19th century larder. The floors have long since collapsed, and the roof is also gone. Some of the fine sand stone windows are still intact, and the moat is little more than a boggy stream surrounding the tower on three sides.

The squat tower seems to be in a good defensive position. There is a shallow ravine with a beck running in it to the South, and another beck to the North, both providing adequate water to make the surrounding ground boggy and difficult to traverse.

Above. Old photo of the hall. Not much has changed.

Killington hall is rare, in that the original hall\tower, is preserved along with the original manorial chapel. Unfortunately, the church was not open on the day I visited the hall...a good excuse to re-visit.

Kilchurn Castle, Glenorchy and Inishail

Kilchurn Castle
Glenorchy and Inishail
Lochawe
Scotland

Sometimes referred to as Kilcairn Castle, the building was erected in around 1450 by Sir Colin Campbell, first Lord of Glenorchy. It started life as a tower house with a strong surrounding wall, but by 1500, a range and hall had been built on the South side of the castle. Further additions were made right through to the 1600's.

Above. Kilchurn Castle from the Eastern shores of Lochawe (from personal collection)

When the castle was originally built, it was on it's own small island, much as Castle Stalker is today. However, as the Loch has changed over the ensuing 600 years, the island is no more and the castle finds itself on the shores of the loch.

Above. Kilchurn Castle from the West.

During the Jacobite rebellions of 1717 and 1745, the castle was garrisoned by government troops. It was more or less abandoned by the Campbells in around 1740, although ownership was maintained by the family. In 1760, the castle's demise was sounded when a severe storm resulted in a lightning struck tower falling into the courtyard. The upturned tower remains there to this day. The castle, as a result of the storm damage was fully abandoned, and the Campbells moved to Taymouth Castle to concentrate on other estates.

Above. Kilchurn Castle (postcard from personal collection)

The castle can be approached from across the loch by boat in the summer months, or on foot around the shores of the loch. Alternatively, as in the photo above, it can be viewed from the A819.

Tower of Refuge, Isle of Man

Tower of Refuge
Douglas Bay
Douglas
Isle of Man

The Tower of Refuge sits on a low slung rock called Conister, or St Mary's Rock. At high tide, the rock is invisible, and before the tower was built, posed a serious threat to ships as they made their way into Douglas Harbour from the North East. The tower was built in 1832, and had no military significance. Instead it was placed on the low lying rocks as a way of warning sea borne traffic of the hidden rocks at high tide.

Built at a cost of around £255, the tower was designed by John Welch, and consists of three towers linked together to form a triangular structure, with a single tall square tower behind it. The tower's purpose is to provide a safe haven in the event of a wrecking. It is now in the hands of the RNLI, whos flag flies from the tower.

The Tower of Refuge at low tide. (Photos courtesy of Martin Russell)

Castle Rushen, Castletown, Isle of Man

Castle Rushen
Castletown
Isle of Man

Castle Rushen sits on the banks of Silver Burn, over looking Castletown Bay. The castle is a fine Medieval structure built on the site of a Viking fortified site. The castle has some stone work dating from the 12 century, but most of the surviving structure is dated from the late 13th century, right through to the 16 century.

Interior of the curtain wall. (Photo courtesy of Martin Russell)

The Round tower and the Derby house (not pictured) date from the 16th century.Between 1813 and 1827, the keep was used as a prison.

Part of the keep. (Photo courtesy of Martin Russell)

A large scale restoration project was undertaken in 1910, to restore the castle as mush as possible. The result is one of the finest preserved medieval castles in the British Isles. The base of the keep walls are reputedly 12 feet thick, tapering to 7 feet at the tops. The whole castle is surrounded by a 25 foot high curtain wall, over 7 feet thick in places. Towers have been placed at irregular intervals, to provide good line of site in the event of a siege. The castle is open to the public between the months of April and September.

YORK: Acomb: ROC Group HQ No 20

York: Acomb: ROC Group HQ No 20
Cold war bunker
Acomb Road
York
Yorkshire

The cold war bunker at York has recently opened its doors thanks to English Heritage and a large chunk of cash (reputedly £240,000) The bunker is situated behind Shelley House on Acomb road in York, and is open for pre-arranged tours. Based on photographs of the interior in 1991, when it was 'stood' down, its appearance, including a large collection of equipment such as computers, telephones and uniforms, has been re-constructed as authentically as possible. Also in situ, are maps and recording equipment that would have been used to monitor radioactive fall out in the event of a nuclear attack on the UK.

Photography was forbidden on the tour, hence the only shot I have is of the exterior of the bunker, but needless to say, it's a tour well worth taking.

The bunker is a semi-submerged structure, built into a mound of earth a story high, and accessed by a flight of stairs up the outside. The bomb proof door is still in situ, as is the pump up arial at its side. Once inside, there are an further two floors beneath the earth.

Once inside, the bunker is pretty much like a large house (without the windows of course). There's a kitchen and canteen, dormitaries to sleep a staff of 60 in shifts, the plant room containing the deisel generator, a telephone exchange room with impressive faraday cage, the Control room from which the trajectory of radioactive material would have been monitored and all presented pretty much as it would have been when in action!!!

The tour is presented by a member of English heratige, and the young lady that took our tour was very knowledgable and answered all of our questions.

The bunker was opened for operations in 1961, and found itself on high alert during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.

Well worth a visit.

Clifford's Tower, York

Clifford's Tower
York
Yorkshire

Clifford's tower is perhaps the most visible and most recognisable symbol of York's military history. The tower was built in 1068 by William the conqueror, the first of two motte and bailey structures. The second, The Old Baile, was built a year later. The building of both castles resulted in the destruction of one of the seven shires into which York was divided. Cliffords tower sits on the East banks of the River Ouse. Both castles would have been significant defencive structures for their day....until they were destroyed by English and Danish armies in September 1069....literally dismantled by the invading Danes under Swein of Denmark (nephew of King Cnut) The Danish invasion and sacking of York briefly gave the English a hope of evicting William the Conqueror's occupying army. However, William paid the Danish army to leave and quickly re-established his control over the city. The resulting 'Harrying of the North' saw huge swathes of the countryside obliterated of all signs of life, partly in revenge and partly military strategy. By the end of the year, both castles had been rebuilt.

In 1190, the keep of the motte was severely damaged by fire in the anti-Jewish riots that took place in the city. Once again, the castle was re-built, this time on a higher motte. In both these periods (pre and post fire) the castle was built in wood....a state of play that remained unchanged until the 13th century. During 1902\03, archaeological digs on the motte discovered a layer of charred material, probably relating to the fire of 1190....this material laying some thirteen feet below the summit of the motte, demonstrating the rebuilding that took place after the devastating fire. The castle was surrounded on three sides by the Rivers Foss and Ouse, helping to provide the fortification with enhanced protection.

In 1228 disaster struck again, when the wooden castle was blown down in a gale. No rebuilding work was done for 17 years, until Henry III gave instructions for the castle to be rebuilt in wood and stone. By 1270, the castle was once again complete. Two of Henry III's chief castle builders were employed to make sure that the castle was built to its maximum strength: Henry de Reyns, Henry's master stone mason, and Simon of Northampton, Henry's master carpenter.....both of whom had worked on Windsor Castle. Over the next twenty or so years, over £2500 was spent on improvements. It is thought that the quatrefoil design for the tower was taken from Henry de Reyns tower at the Chateau de'Etamps, some thirty miles South of Paris. Each lobe of the tower possessed two arrow slits, allowing those occupying the castle to keep watch in all directions. Significant repairs were required after flooding in 1315 and 1316, and yet more in 1360 when part of the motte collapsed causing cracks to appear in the tower's walls. Some £200 was spent during this period, on repairs, and some of the repaired cracks are still visible today.

The castle was largely untouched until the 1660's, most likely due to the diminishing threat from North of the border. From the early 1500's, the castle became more of an administrative centre than a military stronghold, and it was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. In 1596, the city gaoler, Robert Redhead was responsible for removing large amounts of roofing material from the castle, and it wasn't until the city council brought the theft to the attention of the crown, that he was stopped.

The 1600's saw a period of building in the bailey region of the castle, and the keep on the motte transformed into a gaol. The tower was by this time, demoted from a defensive structure in this respect, and the castle promoted to the centre of civil administration for the city. In 1614 the tower was leased out by James I so that he didn't have to pay for the many repairs that the castle required, but at the outbreak of the civil war it was home to a Royalist garrison. In 1643 the upper floors and the roof were strengthened to enable a number of cannons to be stationed there. During the siege of York in 1644, the tower came under fire from Parliamentarian cannon, suffering some minor damage. It was repaired in 1652, and continued to be garrisoned under Charles II. In 1684, a fire spread to the gun powder store in the tower, causing a huge explosion. Much of the wood of the tower was destroyed, and the walls were seriously damaged. Minor repairs were made, and it was garrisoned right up until 1688, when it eventually passed into private hands. As soon as it became a privately owned structure, it lost all military use, and became a 'garden feature' with a spiraling footpath from the foot of the motte to the summit.

The tower, including the castle's building beyond the motte, remained standing through the 1700's, largley unchanged. It wasn't until the 1820's that prison reformers began to demand that the prison conditions at York gaol be improved, and in 1824, a decision was made to enlarge the prison, and provide larger cells, with more security. Land adjoining the castle was purchased for this purpose, and for a short time it looked likely that the tower and the motte upon which it stood was in danger of vanishing for ever. The tower survived though, even though the motte was revetted with a huge wall right around its base. The new prison was built, and the tower was spared....however, other parts of the castle vanished: the gatehouse, most of the curtain wall and most of the buildings within the walls. In 1900 the castle was no longer a public prison, but had been turned over to the military for their use. It remained under their control until about 1929, after which most of the prison buildings were dismantled, except for the debtor's and women's prison which now house the museum. The revetment around the base of the motte has long since gone, and the motte has been restored and strengthened, and the the tower is now open as a tourist attraction.

Brougham Hall, Brougham

Brougham Hall,
Brougham,
Cumbria

Brougham Hall sits just outside Eamont Bridge near Penrith, on the B6262. The hall is a mis-mash of buildings dating from the 1400's right through to the 1930's.

Above. View of the external walls looking South.

Large parts of the Hall were built during the early part of the 13th century, when a cow house, great hall and a fortified manor were erected by Gilbert de Broham. A licence to crenellate was granted to Ricardus de Brun in 1307, and it is likely that the walls were built at this time.

Above. Interior of the ruined chapel with Christ on the crucifix.

During the 16th century, further buildings were added to the interior of the site, and a pele tower was built during the 17th century. Lady Anne Clifford of Pendragon, Penrith and others fame restored the hall and its buildings around this time.

Above. External walls of the chapel.

The site as a whole became derelict in the late 18th century, and was largely rebuilt in the 1900's. Little of the Medieval remains are visible today, although the hall has undergone a great deal of re-building in the last decade or so.

Above. Looking across the rooftops towards the gatehouse.

The gatehouse has been spectacularly rebuilt, as have some of the internal buildings and the wall surrounding the site.

Above. The North East range of buildings against the courtyard walls.

There is a car park at the front of the hall, and entry is free if you want to have a look around the ruins.

Above. The Southern gatehouse.

Above. The walkway across the B6262 to the church.

Above. The main gatehouse on the North side of the courtyard.

Nearby are the ruins of Brougham castle, the Mayburgh Henge, King Arthur's Round Table, and the historic town of Penrith with its castle.

Follow this link to the official Brougham Hall web site.

Arnside Tower, Arnside

Arnside Tower,
Arnside,
Cumbria

Built in the late 14th century, Arnside tower is unique amongst the pele towers and tower houses of Cumbria and the South Lakes area, in that it is a free standing tower that never had any surrounding buildings attached to it. It's seen its fair share of disaster and damage as well. It was seriously burnt in 1602, and suffered disastrous damage after a storm in 1884. The fire in the early part of the 17th century caused significant damage, although the structure was important enough for repairs to be made.

It was occupied until the 1680's, after which, the roof timbers were removed to Beetham and Knowsley. The storm, in 1884, almost totally destroyed the internal cross wall, causing the South West wall to collapse.

The walls that exist today, are around 1.2metres thick, maybe too slight for the tower to be truly classified as a 'pele tower'. Arnside is one of a number of towers that can be found around the Morecambe bay area.

Other towers in this group include Hazelslack, Wraysholme and Beetham. The tower is situated on a public footpath near Arnside Tower farm sandwiched between Silverdale and Arnside, and is easily accessible for photographing, although the structure is in a very poor state of repair and should not be entered.

Some commentators have suggested that the tower was originally built as a hunting lodge, and does not actually belong to that well known group of fortifications, pele towers.

There are no vaulted rooms\basements present in the remains (an important factor when defining pele towers) the walls are, as mentioned above, thin and slight for a pele tower. Some commentators even go so far as to theorise that the tower could in fact be a complete 17th century rebuild (after the fire of 1602) and there is little to date it to the 1500's at all....such is the 'blandness' of the architectural features we see today. Whatever its history though, pele tower or not, this is a very interesting building set in beautiful surroundings. It desperately needs some consolidation work on those walls in perilous condition, if it is to survive into the future.

Multangular Tower, York

Multangular Tower
York
North Yorkshire

The large Roman Multangular tower stands in the grounds of the Museum. It has been called the Multangular tower since about 1683, thanks to Dr Martin Lister, a 17th century naturlaist and physician. Before this, in records dated 1315, it was referred to as Ellerendyng, and then in further records dated 1380, as Elrondyng. The tower forms part of the old Roman defences of what was the fort of Ebaracum.

Above. A view into the tower.

This tower was one of two major towers of the great fort the the Minster is now built over, facing out over the River Ouse. The other tower is situated beneath a street called Feasegate. The long wall had smaller towers at intervals, numbering six in total, three either side of a great gatehouse that would have split the wall in two.

Above. A panoramic view of the interior of the tower, and the medieval walls to the left and right.

The wall in which the tower is built, was probably built between AD209 and AD211, by the Emperor Severus when he was in York. It is the only surviving portion of the Roman walls. The lower section, constructed of smaller uneven stones, marks the original Roman tower, whilst the larger, regular shaped stones, mark the medieval and later additions to this tower. A drawing of the tower, dated 1807, shows the interior filled with earth right up to the bottoms of the large windows.

Above. A view of the tower looking across the museum lawns.

The tower is nine metres high, although only the bottom six metres is of the original Roman structure. The tower was incorporated into the medieval defences of the city and built up so that it could easily be used to defend this portion of the city.

Above. An external view of the tower.

Nearby to the tower, a rare Saxon tower survives, surrounded by medieval wall.

Micklegate Bar, York

Micklegate Bar,
York,
North Yorkshire

Micklegate Bar started off as a small gate into the city of York sometime between 1100 and 1132. In 1333, the defences of the gateway were beefed up, and a large barbican was built, and a portcullis was added, the additional height of the tower being added at this time to house the machinery required to raise and lower it. The slot down which the portcullis ran is still visible within the walls. Unfortunately for us, the barbican was removed in 1826 to aid the free flow of traffic into the city. The gatehouse was remodeled extensively in 1827, 1863 and during the 1950's, when the carved figures were erected on the two pepper pot turrets.

Above. The external face of Micklegate Bar, minus its barbican.

In 1569, the Earl of Westmorland commented that Micklegate Bar was the strongest bar, with the strongest portion of wall surrounding the city of York, and to this day, it has to be the most recognisable, and the most impressive of York's gates. It is first documented in records from the reign of Henry II, and some time around 1196, a grant was obtained for a house to be built above the gate. The gate was used, as well as a defensive structure, as a toll booth, with tolls on goods coming into the city being levied here. The barbican on the exterior of the gate, projected some fifty feet beyond the external walls. It was in an extremely poor state of repair by the early 1800's, with several drawings showing walls collapsed and even missing. When one of the side walls fell down in 1810, York Corporation decided that the while of the barbican should be dismantled, although it was not fully removed until 1826. There are four shields above the central arch of the gate: The shield directly above the arch, commemorates the restoration of the gate in 1737, and shows the arms of Lister Kaye. Above this shield, and to both left and right, are shields with the arms of the city of York. The top shield, with a gold helm over it, shows the Royal arms with 'France ancient'.

The gatehouse was used to display the severed heads of executed prisoners. For example:

Sir Henry Percy 1403
Sir William Plumpton 1405
Lord Scrop 1415
The Earl of Devon 1461
The Earl of Northumberland 1472
Four of the Farnley Wood Conpirators 1663
William Conolly and James Mayne 1746

Above. The internal face of Micklegate Bar.

The passageways to either side of the gate are relatively modern additions. The double arched passageway, to the right of the above photo, dates from 1753, and was originally a single arch, designed by John Carr. The single arch was replaced by the two arches seen today, in 1863. The passageway to the left of the gate, was designed by Peter Atkinson, and built in 1827. The gate was the most important portal into the city of York, indeed, Royalty and other important dignitaries were all greeted by members of the City Corporation here. Henry VIII was famously greeted here when he visited York in 1486, when he was granted the keys to the city. James I was also greeted here in 1603, with trumpeters high on the city walls. Charles I was also greeted with great pomp some thirty years later, and when Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited in 1971, they too were greeted at Micklegate Bar. Following tradition, both the Queen and Prince Philip had to ask permission from the Lord Mayor of York to enter York.

The gatehouse lays at the junction of Micklegate and Nunnery Lane, and is well worth a visit.