Hit the streets of ancient York and discover a city steeped in history. WORDS: Trevor Paddenburg.
It’s a lucky thing Viking invaders captured York in the 10th
century, giving the city in northern England the name Yorvik. To the
Romans, the city was known as tongue-twisting Eboracum. And after them,
the Saxon name — Eoforwick —was even more of a mouthful. As well as giving the city a name that rolls off the tongue easily, the
various invasions and conquests of York through the ages have left it
with something even more popular among visitors: the city is an
archaeological treasure trove.
It’s surrounded by miles of Roman walls that are still intact and it’s home to Europe’s oldest shopping street, the largest gothic cathedral in northern Europe and a live archaeological dig that has unearthed an entire Viking village.
York is the closest a British city comes to Rome, where you hardly need to visit a museum because a stroll around the compact city centre yields an endless stream of relics from centuries past.
“History! This place is just steeped in it,” says Julian, my walking tour guide, gesturing to one of the city gates, known as Bootham Bar, where the heads of traitors were hung in medieval times. (In York, a ‘bar’ is a gate and a ‘gate’ is actually a street.)
Not wanting to waste a moment — “There’s just so much to see here” — Julian hurries me on to the next attraction.
We pass the city-centre premises of York University (formerly a palace of King Henry VIII) and head on to the striking remains of Saint Mary’s Abbey, built by the son of William the Conqueror in 1250. The ruin sits in the lovely green Museum Gardens, “where on a sunny day everyone is half naked”, Julian tells me.
Sunday morning shoppers stroll casually past carved Roman coffins at the edge of the park, but there’s no time to linger. It’s off to York Minster, the giant gothic cathedral that dominates the entire city centre. It took 250 years to build and is the most visited cathedral in Britain, with a colossal stained glass window the size of a tennis court. If you’re not claustrophobic, the climb up a narrow staircase to the top of the central tower is well worth it for a cracking view over York and the Yorkshire Moors.
Don’t miss the much less grandiose Holy Trinity Church tucked down an alley off Goodramgate either — more than 5000 bodies are buried in the tiny garden.
Goodramgate leads us on to York’s most famous shopping street, The Shambles, historically home to dozens of butchers, but now lined with charming tea rooms and bakeries. The street is on a slope — designed so that the blood from slaughtered carcasses could drain away.
» Trevor Paddenburg travelled to York with National Express East Coast (08457-225 225; www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com) and Visit York (01904-550099; www.visityork.org)
Out of town
Use York as a base for these sightseeing jaunts …
Yorkshire Moors
Hike in this hauntingly beautiful national park.
Castle Howard
Poke around this spectacular 18th-century country estate.
Scarborough
Get your beach fix at this seaside town.a quick Earl Grey at Betty’s Tea Rooms, one of England’s most famous places for a cuppa. But all too soon my time in York is up and I’m back on the train heading for London, thinking Julian was right when he said you really need a four-day stint to check out charming York properly.
Ghosts and ghouls
York was named the most haunted European city by the International Ghost Research Foundation in 2002. Don’t miss the Ghost Hunt of York guided walk, which gives a spine-tingling look at the city’s macabre past. See www.ghosthunt.co.uk.