The York Report 1 -streets of York. ~ remastered

Posted in Anglo~Saxon, History, Late Middle Ages, medieval, photography, uncategorisedTagged , , , , , , ,

Back in 2015, Phil and I went off to York for a weekend away. I did a few posts on it but only Francis has seen them, so as I still haven’t got any new stuff sorted out, this will keep your Sunday History lesson going! šŸ˜Š

The History Bit

York is ancient! Mesolithic items have shown up in digs around the area, that’s 7/8000 yrs BC to you and me, then the British tribes of the Brigantes & the Parisii before the Pesky Romans took it over after the conquest of Britain (Spaghetti Bolognese is still to this present day English people’s favourite meal to cook šŸ˜‰ ) It was the Romans who really put it on the map. During the conquest the Brigantes became a Roman client state, but, when their leadership changed becoming more hostile to Rome, Roman General Cerialis led the 9th Legion north of the Humber River.

York was founded in 71 AD when Cerialis and the Ninth Legion constructed a military fortress  on flat ground above the River Ouse near its junction with the River Foss. The fortress was later rebuilt in stone, covered an area of 50 acres, and was inhabited by 6,000 soldiers.  I bet it was smelly! The earliest known mention of the Fort by name (Eboracum) is from a wooden tablet from the Roman fortress of Vindolanda along Hadrians Wall dated to c. 95ā€“104 AD, where it is called Eburaci. Much of the Roman fortress lies under the foundations of York Minster, and excavations in the Minster’s undercroft have revealed some of the original walls, which you’ll see a bit of later.

Well all good things come to an end and the Romans buggered off in 410, not much is known about what happened for a while but definitely factions of Britons kept the place going. Then in early 5th century, the Angles came, and they were German. They founded several of the kingdoms of Anglo Saxon England, and their name is the root of the name England. The name comes from the district of Angeln an area located on the Baltic shore of what is now Schleswig Holstein the most northern state of Germany. However we didn’t really take to Brackwurst like we did Spaghetti Bolognese.

By the early 7th century, York was an important royal centre for the Northumbrian kings, for it was here that Paulinius of York (later St Paulinus) came to set up his wooden church, the precursor of York Minster, and it was here that King Edwin of Northumbria was baptised in 627. The first Minster is believed to have been built in 627, though give or take a couple of years by the sound of it.

So by the 8th century everything’s cushty, York was an active commercial centre with established trading links to other areas of England, Northern France, the Low Countries and the Rhineland.

Then wouldn’t you know it, the Pesky Vikings decide they want a piece of us!! In 867 a large army of Danish Pesky Vikings, called the “Great Heathen Army”, captured York. They had a bit of a fight, the Vikings won and put a puppet ruler in charge of York, then the Army toddled off and went on the rampage for 10 years, came back, and their leader Halfdan took it over.

In 1066 the Pesky French took their turn, and the Norman conquest happened. Now, as we know, there were many years of fighting and rebellion but the upshot was, the Normans eventually controlled England, 8000 of them settled here, and the Anglo Saxons skedaddled off to Scotland, Ireland & Scandinavia.

So that was that, and now we’re in Medieval times. York prospered in the later medieval years and is now a popular tourist attraction, with the Shambles, a street of timber framed shops originally occupied by butchers being top on the tourist list. Some retain the outdoor shelves and the hooks on which meat was displayed. They have overhanging upper floors and are now largely souvenir shops. Twenty medieval parish churches survive in whole or in part, though only eight of these are regularly used for worship. The medieval city walls, with their entrance gates, known as bars, encompassed virtually the entire city and survive to this day.

There you go, 9000 odd years of history in a couple of paragraphs, doncha wish your teacher was hot like me?

on to the pictures,

wonky walls
embracing the wonky
The Shambles
Leaning…
Closer…
York Minster spires
Hamlet of Marygate. Probably not of Shakespeare
Not medieval.

Will post some more York stuff when I have another gap, til then

šŸ“· šŸ˜Š

48 thoughts on “The York Report 1 -streets of York. ~ remastered”

  5. Well, that’s put me off going to York. Technically, I have been there, as I changed trains on my way to somewhere else. I saw Thora Hird as I was walking along the platform, so it was a while ago.

    You’d have thought York would have more pride in itself, but the Shambles looks really grim and tacky.

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  9. I have been to York many times, and love that city. I almost moved there in the late 1980s, as my nurse girlfriend in London at the time came from nearby Wetherby, and smart flats in York were half the price of London then. As your photos show, it can be overwhelmed by tourists all year round though. During the three years we were together, I must have gone to York more than a dozen times, and we once stayed in a small hotel next to the city walls for four nights.
    Best wishes, Pete.

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  11. Pretty! I was in York ages ago and now I see again how wonky the buidings actualy are! The Minster was’nt caught by the big fire yet and the gorgeous windows unharmed. The last picture I find perhaps the most interesting. Wonderfully done!

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  12. Terrific pics as usual! Once upon a time I read that during one particular reign – the taxation laws in England were based on the size of the foundation of the structure (before being based on number of windows). Therefore the first, second and third floors became wider and wider, eventually overhanging into the streets. Possibly this is reflected in York and your photos?

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  13. What a plague of peskies! If old York hadnā€™t survived, New York would still be called New Amsterdam and wouldnā€™t that rob us of a lot of good songs.
    Your pics make York look like a great place to visit.. And I bet a whole lot cheaper to live in than New York.
    Nice post again, Fraggle.

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  22. Pingback: York 2015 remastered ~ part 3 ~going medieval & beyond – fraggle ~ rocking a camera across the Universe

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