INTERESTING ENGLISH CITY

YORK, ENGLAND

The first thing we learned in York, England  was that the ancient gates to the city are called bars because they bar anyone from entering the walled city.

A local docent told us, “Bootham Bar is the defensible  bastion for the north road. Micklegate Bar on the south was traditionally the monarch entrance, and the place where traitor’s heads were displayed. Monk Bar, the last bar built, is the tallest and has kept its portcullis (iron grating) in working order. It has a couple of levels and each one is defendable. A tax door is at  street level as  everything entering the city was taxed. Walmgate Bar is the only town gate in England to have preserved its barbican, a funnel-like approach forcing attackers to bunch together.

            “York’s streets are called gates from the Viking word. So gates are bars and streets are gates, some people find this confusing.”

We walked a good part of the three mile ancient wall surrounding the inner city. The population inside the walled city is 2000, the city’s population reaches 60,000 and greater York approaches 150,000. Romans were in the area from 71-400s when the city was a Roman military center. Anglo Saxons followed, Vikings appeared 866-1066 and then came the Normans.

The rivers Foss and Ouse flow through the city. William the Conqueror took the River Foss for his private fishing pond. Quirky as it may seem, use of the river still belongs to the Queen, and the city of York pays three pounds fifty annually to the crown for the use of the river. This amount has never been increased, but the Queen keeps the money which today equals approximately $6.

St. Leonard’s was a hospital built and run by monks and nuns in 937. At the time it was the largest in Europe. It not only accommodated the sick, but  it was also a haven for the aged and poor---ancient social security. William the Conqueror took care of all that, and eventually alms houses were built for the needy.

St. William’s College, 1465, was built for poor chancellor priests of the York Minster. These priests came to the church as children for food and shelter. However, when they became adults they decided they did not want to be celibate. They were locked in the residence each night where the windows were very small. Legend says that the street of the residence was nicknamed Little Alice Lane. Apparently Little Alice was wee enough to make it through the window in the darkness of night!