1 Million & Counting on 14th October 2024 – FOYW Website “visits”.
The Friends of York Walls website first went live in November 2011 as part of the early preparations for FOYW to become a recognised group supporting York’s walls and defences.
Over the (almost) 13 years since then the website has been visited many times from locations all over the world and used by people seeking information about York’ famour City Walls and the studded Walls Trail.
The City Walls Trail home page regularly receives over 300 hits per day and its URL is to be found referred to in many places.
On 14th October 2024 the FOYW Website passed through the 1,000,000 views milestone = ONE MILLION VIEWS
Fishergate Postern Tower will be open from 10am to 4pm on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th October as part of the York Unlocked 2024 events.
Location = Fishergate Postern Tower, Piccadilly, York, North Yorkshire, YO1 9AF FREE admission and no need to book.
See inside this watch-tower on York’s City Walls. Rarely open to the public, our volunteers are on hand to show off the spiral staircase, Tudor toilet and timber roof. Find out about the history of the Walls and look out for any approaching invaders!
The Tower was built around 1505 where the City Walls ended on the banks of a swollen river Foss, with York Castle on the opposite bank. The narrow, 500 year old stairs twist to the right as you go up, making it difficult for a right-handed attacker to use a sword (or any weapon) as effectively as a defender facing him from above. The stairs take you up to the first floor room, which has a small twisted corridor off it leading to the garderobe, for human waste to drop straight into the river. The Foss had been made very broad by the building of a dam in the time of William the Conqueror, which raised the level of the river so it flooded the land between the Tower and the Castle, where the modern road called Piccadilly is.
You can see the modern lie of the land if you continue up the spiral staircase to the top floor (look out for masons’ marks on your way) and look through the windows, which were the open embrasures of battlements for the first few years of the Tower’s life. The roof beams may be older than the Tower itself: the roof was added in the late 1500s, using second hand timbers that carry obvious signs of their earlier uses.
York’s old City Walls are the most complete in England. They were built mainly in the 13th century on top of older Roman Walls and then earth banks added in the Anglian and early Medieval periods. There are a few bits of dry moat left around the banks. The slopes are well known for their daffodils in March and April. At other times they are grassy or covered with wild flowers. More information on York’s City Walls history is available HERE and HERE
A walk all round the walls (going up on the wall-walk, or just using the pavement outside them) takes about 2 hours. It will take longer if you pause much to look at things like the four main ‘bars’ (these are fortified gateways), the 2 lesser bars, the postern (this is a small gateway defended by a tower), the many other towers and details like arrow slits, musket loops, sculptures and masons’ marks. There are also good views of many interesting buildings from up on the walls. The wall-walk is usually open daily from 8.00 am till dusk, but may not open in bad weather. For details see City of York Council web page HERE
Wheelchairs, pushchairs and dogs are not practical up on the narrow wall-walk, but they are fine in the Museum Gardens where you can see York’s best Roman walls. These include the Multangular Tower which is topped with a row of arrow-slits from the time it was made a part of the city walls. Also here are the remains of St Mary’s Abbey – they include England’s best abbey-defending walls. These, along with Clifford’s Tower, the castle wall nearby, and the City Walls, were all built at about the same time using the same Magnesian Limestone.
You can do a self-guided walk around the “York City Walls Trail” by using the Friends of York Walls website “Walls Trail” pages– see HERE [ it’s FREE ], or buy the book “A Walking Guide to York’s City Walls” [ ISBN-13: 978-0992900205 approx. £6.99], or the new “York’s City Walls Audio Trail” smartphone app [a single payment of £1.99 via the Guide.AI app, and guide ID 80] – see HERE . Further information on all these is available on this FOYW website.
The Friends of York Walls is a registered charity = Number 1159300
Fishergate Postern Tower
Fishergate Postern Tower (FPT) was built around 1505. It is at the end of Piccadilly, beside a little gateway at an end of the walls. Water once filled the gap between this tower and York Castle. It has four floors, a narrow spiral staircase, an unusually complete Tudor toilet and many masons’ marks. The present roof was probably added in the early 1600’s when this turned open battlements into the row of square windows all round the top floor. It is thought that the tower was used as a dovecote after the roof was added.
Friends of York Walls lease the tower from the City of York Council. Displays here are about the tower and the history of the City Walls. Entry is FREE on our open days, and we can also open for payment. Planned FPT Open Day dates are listed HERE . For £20, you can “Sponsor a Stone” in your name or for someone else – you choose a stone on an external wall of the tower and add an optional message – then a certificate and book entries link that stone and message uniquely to the name you give – see HERE . Sponsorships have included simple “gifts to others”, dedications, marking personal special occasions, and “In Memorium” of loved ones !
Currently FOYW need more supporters, more volunteers and more committee members. We also need more money for better displays, for roof repairs, better lighting, etc.. Please consider joining our members and/or making a donation – see HERE and help FOYW to carry on returning Fishergate Postern Tower to fuller community use.
A section of York’s City Walls walkway between Micklegate Bar and the Station Rise gate will be closed from Monday 20 May for 6 weeks (29th June 2024 ?). The short section from Barker Tower (at Lendal Bridge) to the Station Rise gate is actually open, BUT there is NO ACCESS beyond that point.
This is for H&S reasons and to allow for the construction of a new retaining wall and rampart following the removal of Queens Street Bridge.
From the CYC Website pages on “York Station Gateway and Queen Street Bridge” =
Activity has been taking place on site. 2 weekend closures in April allowed for the construction of the new temporary road and the removal of parts of Queen Street Bridge. The temporary road is in place while work continues on the project.
For the latest information see CYC web pages = project updates.
Further works
While most of Queen Street Bridge has now been removed, some parts remain in place. The Queen Street approach ramp at the southern end has been left in position, which will act as a piling platform to allow the installation of a contiguous piled retaining wall. This wall will support the embankments and protect the City Walls from any possible movement once the remaining parts of the bridge are removed.
Construction of the piled retaining wall began on Monday 20 May and is expected to take approximately 3 months. At that stage the remainder of the bridge will be removed.
During this time, other parts of the scheme will progress with the contractor Sisk beginning construction of the permanent new road, with improvements to cycling and walking facilities, the new bus interchange and public realm areas.
City walls
Throughout the ongoing Station Gateway works, special care has been taken to monitor and protect the historic City Walls.
Historic England acts as an advisor to the DCMS. Their specialist team of inspectors and engineers have been working on this project for several years and have reviewed the proposed works well in advance. A Scheduled Monument Consent was submitted to and agreed by DCMS, allowing the works to be carried out.
A key part of this was the installation of a monitoring system, with monitoring targets being attached to the walls and embankments. This allows the council, Historic England and the contractor to monitor the behaviour of the walls before, during and after the works. Advance works has enabled the team to understand typical wall movement throughout the year and develop a plan to mitigate for any movement during or after the works.
During the Queen Street Bridge demolition works, no movement has been recorded to date.
A section of the City Walls walkway between Micklegate Bar and Station Rise will be closed from Monday 20 May for 6 weeks. This is to allow for the construction of a new retaining wall and rampart following the removal of Queens Street Bridge.
