Southbound Train

So off to York we went...

And what a lovely city it was: everything within walking distance; a great apartment right in the city centre; loads to see and do; a lot of history and really high quality attractions; great food; unfortunately hoaching because it was also English half term; but a really good proper city break. 

The Jorvik Viking Centre was our first port of call.  Created by the York Archaeological Trust in 1984 its name is derived from the Old Norse name for the city of York.  It contains lifelike mannequins and life size dioramas depicting Viking life in the city, and is as much Disney ride as it is museum.

Established by the Romans, York is only 37 miles (60km) from the Humber Estuary, linked by the River Ouse to the North Sea.  This inland port had long-standing links to Europe and so was a significant conquest for the Vikings from Scandinavia. 

The excavation at Coppergate, where the centre is, showed that during the Viking period York was transformed in size, culture and appearance, becoming a centre of economic importance.  By AD 1066, 15,000 or more people lived in Jorvik, making it England's second city.

Soon after AD900 Coppergate was divided into long narrow
properties. Single storey, post and wattle buildings with
backyards were build end-to-end on the street.

An example of a 'public' toilet.

One of two skeletons found at Coppergate -
she was 45 years old and analysis of her 
teeth show she was born in Scotland, 
Norway or Sweden.

A viking age poop

This is the only Viking-age sock found in 
England, probably from Scandinavia
- looking uncannily like a like a pair of Toms.

In 1016 the Danish prince Canute completed the conquest
of England begun by his father Svein Forkbear. By 1028 
he was King of England, Denmark and Norway, and
the portraits on his coins changed over time to reflect
his political and military ambitions.

The Shambles is one of York's most famous landmarks and one of the best-preserved medieval shopping streets in Europe. With its cobbled streets and overhanging buildings, it is believed to have been the inspiration behind Diagon Alley.  Although none of the original shop-fronts have survived from medieval times, some properties still have exterior wooden shelves, reminders of when cuts of meat were served from the open windows - apparently the street was made narrow by design to keep the meat our of direct sunlight.

York also still has most of the medieval walls that surrounded the city 700 years ago. The tops of these walls were partly rebuilt about 150 years ago so the public could walk along most of them and feel safer by having a tall parapet on one side of them.  The walls we see today were mainly built in the 13th century of magnesian limestone and, uniquely in England, were set on earth ramparts.

In AD71, the Roman army established a fortress on the banks of the River Ouse called Eboracum.  The fortress was rectangular in shape and covered an area of 20 hectares (50 acres). The Romans left York around AD410 but the legacy of their defensive walls remains and some parts can still be seen from the current walls.

The Eastern Tower - the wall here stands
to its original height of 5 meters and the tower
rose at least 3m above that. The wall continues
beneath the grass, as present ground level is
nearly 3m higher than that of the Roman city.

York was a Viking capital in the 10th century, and continued as an important northern city in the 11th century.  In 1068 William the Conqueror built a number of castles across the north-east of England, including one at York. This first castle was a basic motte and bailey castle built between the rivers Ouse and Foss.  Clifford's Tower is the largest surviving element of the sequence of castles, prisons, law courts and other buildings which were built over the following nine centuries.

What it would have looked like had it not been under
restoration!

York is also well known for its Minster, but sadly we didn't book early enough to be able to climb up the tallest tower.

The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York is more commonly known as York Minister and is the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the third-highest office of the Church of England.  The title "minster" is attributed to churches established in the Anglo-Saxon period as missionary teaching churches, and serves now as an honorific title.  The minster was completed in 1472 after several centuries of building, and is an impressive building.

The Heart of Yorkshire window

The Astronomical Clock

The floor in the Chapter House is made
of inlaid pattern tiles by Mintons of
Staffordshire, a leading ceramic factory
in the 1800s who have produced work
for the Houses of Parliament and 
US Capitol.

The Grand Organ is currently undergoing
a once-in-a-century restoration.

The Great East Window - the largest
expanse of medieval stained glass in the
country, telling the story of creation to
the apocalypse.

Lying below the Quire, the Western Crypt is an ancient
space including the remains of the oldest section of the
Minster - this is the tomb of St William of York, canonised
in 1226 and the only saint buried in the cathedral.

The column base seen under the ground
in the crypt is from the colonnade in the
house of a commanding officer in the
Roman Fortress and dates to the
4th century.

Badly damaged in the fire of 1984, this 
Rose Window is one of the finest in the
country.

We also made it to York's Chocolate Story, which showed us the history of chocolate making in York, including the Rowntree's factors which opened in 1890 (and has been owned since 1988 by Nestle).  It was fascinating learning more about - and helping make our own - chocolate.

And last but by no means least, we visited the National Railway Museum, which meant we saw more and read more about trains in the space of three hours than we'll probably ever see and do in the rest of our lifetimes put together. 

Finally Joey got to see the Eurostar!

AND a Japanese Bullet Train!

Never far from a taste of home...

All in all we would totally recommend York as a quick city break, and it's definitely a place I'd go back and visit.  Though, as it happens it also gave us all COVID, so you know...