It’s been a long time, almost eight years, since my last visit to York, but last week I had the chance to take another short trip to this beautiful city.
Have you ever been to York? If so, where did you go? Which of the many wonderful museums did you get the chance to visit? I only visited a handful. I think it would take me months to see them all, and years to notice and appreciate every detail.
Back in 2017, I visited and fell in love with Fairfax House, built in 1755-1762 by John Carr for Lord Fairfax of Emley.
Fairfax House, York (Photo J Starnes)
It was not possible to visit it again last week, but Fairfax House ranks high among the gems that will draw me back to York soon, not least because indoor photography was not allowed in 2017, but is positively encouraged now. Until I come back with my own photos, please feast your eyes on the Fairfax House website and fall in love with John Carr’s work of art, just as I did.
York Castle Museum is just 5 minutes’ walk away. If you ever go to York, don’t miss it. It’s a delightful treasure trove. I could have spent hours examining every tiny item in the fashion gallery and the period rooms, and I don’t think I could ever have enough of Kirkgate!
York Castle Museum (Photos J Starnes)
As explained on the museum website, Kirkgate is an indoor recreation of a street from a bygone age, using original items from the Victorian period and earlier, and original shop-fronts as well, the oldest being a sixteenth-century timber-framed building that came from Stamford in Lincolnshire. Something tells me I will go back to York Castle Museum before long to linger until closing time and explore every corner and every shop window.
York Minster (Photo J Starnes)
I’d also love to explore York Minster once again. I remember some deeply moving discoveries made during my last visit. One of them was the story of the Rose Window, lovingly restored after the devastating fire of 1984, when the 500-year-old stained glass window, a symbol of the union between Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, cracked in 40,000 places due to the extreme heat. The restoration took the best part of four years. Each of the individual pieces of glass (over 8000 in total) were painstakingly dismantled, the cracks were filled with an adhesive with the same refractive index, and then each piece was sandwiched between two layers of clear glass in order to preserve it, should the adhesive fail in the future. The 1980s repairs are currently assessed as part of a significant project announced last summer, which aims to establish whether the methods and materials used have stood up the test of time. (You can find out more about the original restoration and the current project in the BBC and York Minster articles listed under Sources).
The other features that stayed with me after my last visit to York Minster were the Roman murals discovered in the 1960s, during the vast project undertaken in order to strengthen the foundations of the Minster, which were structurally in danger. Archaeologists found fragments attached to the surviving walls and reassembled the painted plaster murals where they originally stood almost two thousand years ago, after the Roman army came to the north of England and built a mighty fortress on the site of the present-day York Minster.
And this, in a nutshell, is what I love the most about York: you can see how it grew, one layer of history over another, and the clues and artefacts are still there for us to discover, such as the murals in the York Minster Undercroft; or the fragment of a Roman column used as a base for a timber frame post when medieval builders erected one of the nine buildings that now form the Old White Swan; or the numbers carved into the timber frame of a house on High Petergate, telling us that it was built in 1646; or the Shambles, where haunches of meat are no longer on display, but the ancient street is lined by the same buildings that stood there since the 1400s.
If you visited York before, what did you love the most? Or you’re one of the lucky people who live there, what hidden gems would you advise us to look for?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Photos © Joana Starnes
Sources:
https://www.yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/iloveny/minster/fire/peter_gibson.shtml
https://yorkminster.org/latest/revisiting-york-minsters-rose-window/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5w2p4z3g9o
https://yorkcivictrust.co.uk/heritage/civic-trust-plaques/roman-fortress/
19 comments
Skip to comment form
I absolutely love York. Every time I go I simply have to visit the Minster, the Shambles and the York museum. Last time I went I found the old mill fascinating.
I also like the Jorvik museum, just not every visit. And walking the walls of York is great fun. I once did a morning walking tour of historical York which was amazing
Author
Thanks so much for the tips, Denise! I saw the old mill from a great distance, and then I learnt that it was open during the Heritage Days (York Unlocked, 27-28 September). Apparently more than 50 buildings and places were included, the Holgate Windmill among them, and the Fishergate Postern Tower and the York Assembly Rooms. I’d love to be there for York Unlocked if I get the chance.
I’ve visited three times and love it! We walked down the Shambles, 🥰 went on the dungeons tour 😱, visited the castle museum 🥰 and my son got married in the Chancellors House next to York Minster. It was a lovely day and the photos in the private gardens had the Minster in the background. 🥰🥰
Author
What a gorgeous wedding venue! The Chancellor’s House looks stunning. The photos must have looked amazing. I’m so glad your son’s wedding day was so lovely. Thanks for sharing, dear Glynis. Have a good day and all the best.
Love York Minster and the castle museum! I couldn’t remember which museum that was but that was so cool when we were there. 🙂 We went to an actual service at YM and Brandon went high into the spire ( nope, not for me… narrow heights!) and got some absolutely incredible pictures. I also liked some Viking attraction they had there in York. It was like a Disney ride and we got to take a break from walking. Lol
The Viking attraction was Jorvik (Viking name for York). They found the Viking artefacts when they started excavating for the Coppergate shopping centre that’s now at ground level. It was too good an opportunity for the city to miss, so they created Jorvik as an attraction and that’s why it’s underground.
Author
I do hope I’ll get to see Jorvik next time, I’ve heard so much about it! Thanks again, Angela!
Author
I’m so glad you had such a lovely time in York, Jami! Oh my goodness, yes, I bet that the photos Brandon took were amazing! So far I’ve only managed to climb Clifford’s tower and the view from there was gorgeous, but nothing like the one from the top of York Minster, I’m sure. I’d love to climb high into the spire like Brandon did, if it’s still possible and if I have the nerve and the energy (but I rather doubt it 😀 ).
Hi everyone
It’s been a while since I was last here. Life has got in the way big time over the past couple of years. However, I couldn’t resist popping in when I saw Joana’s post and photos on FB about her recent trip to York. It’s just over 20 miles from where I live in Harrogate and for a year and a half, until the beginning of August, my work took me there twice a week. I’d travel by train as the traffic is awful and parking for a whole day really expensive. From the station, I’d walk along and across the River Ouse, past the Yorkshire Museum and Gardens, the Minster and under Bootham Bar. Everywhere you look there’s history, some of it nearly two thousand years old. Opposite the Minster, there’s a restaurant named “Bennett’s”!
When lightning struck the Minster in 1984, causing the fire, we could see the glow of the flames in the sky from our back garden all those miles away. We visited a couple of times during the lengthy restoration period and it was amazing to see the work they were doing, including the stained glass. I recommend reading the article by the gentleman who worked so hard on the Rose Window. My very first visit was back in the 70s, as a university student in Bradford. The Undercroft had just opened after the restoration work underpinning the structure, with all of its Roman finds and artefacts.
The “history everywhere” was reinforced earlier this year when a sinkhole formed in a busy street near the Minster, due to a drain collapse. When they dug up the road, they found remains of a medieval hospital, which delayed the whole process as they had to investigate the archaeology before repairing the drain, filling the ground back on and resurfacing the road.
One thing that the City of York has gone in for in recent years is public art trails. Currently, we have “Ghosts in the Gardens”. It consists of sculptures made from what we Brits call chicken wire, giving them a translucent or “ghostly” appearance. If any of you are friends with me on FB (Angela Dale, same avatar as here), I’ve recently posted my collection of photos from the 2024 event.
Apologies for the lengthy waffle!
Author
Thanks ever so much for sharing this, Angela! I loved every word! You’re so lucky to live so close and to have worked in York for a year and a half. Your walk to work sounds like such a perfect way to start the day. How wonderful, to be surrounded by so much history! I don’t know many places where it has been preserved so well, and so beautifully linked with everyday life, instead of modernity taking over.
My goodness, yes, the article about the restoration of the Rose Window is such a fascinating read. The amount of time it took to restore every segment, and the dedication, skill and love that went into everything they did!
I hope the ‘Ghost in the Gardens’ art trail continues for many years. Loved the photos you took in 2024! We only found a few this year, but maybe I’ll have better luck next time 🙂
Thanks for your kind words, Joana. I have loads of photos of York that I took over the course of those 18 months. I’m thinking about composing a couple of photo walks featuring York. One from station to work via one route and another going back via a different route. Look out for it on FB.
I so want to visit there some day!
Author
I hope you visit soon, Stephanie!
I enjoyed visiting York and would not mind going back. The Jorvik center was quite entertaining. One memorable thing that happened was that we could not find the entrance to the visitor center, driving around and around it, until finally driving through what we later learned was a pedestrian gate, because that was the only entrance we could find.
Author
Oops, that must have been tricky!
I hope you visit York again, Gina. Have a good weekend and thanks for reading.
Beautiful photos. Being in the states I won’t get to visit those sites, although we did tour parts of GB for our 25th anniversary, years ago. York was not on our agenda.
Author
I’m so glad you liked the photos, Sheila. All the best and I hope you’re having a cosy and colourful autumn.
This is such an interesting piece, Joana. York is on my list of places to go,as I know it’s a place rich with history. York Castle Museum looks right up my street, judging from your pictures 🙂
This makes me want to go to York! Great pictures and stories. I just finished re-reading your The Second Chance, and now I want to visit Devonshire, too! My list of places to visit is just getting longer and longer. I did go to Devonshire when I lived briefly in England 27 years ago, but I don’t think we ever spent any time in York.