Bootham Bar

1250–1600

The gateways through the walls in York are called ‘bars’. The name ‘bar’ has its origins in the bars – barriers or simple gates – that were used to block the gateways to keep people out. Originally the bars were relatively simple structures. Over the years they became increasingly elaborate and complex.

The bars also acted as control points and toll booths. People who were not freemen of the city had to pay tolls on items brought into York for sale in the markets. The gates were normally locked at 9pm and the keys were kept by the mayor. The gates were not unlocked until 4am.

The bars were also a symbol of the city’s importance. York was England’s second city through most of the Middle Ages. The bars became a backdrop for elaborate civic ceremonies. In 1448, for Henry VI’s visit to York, a representation of heaven was constructed at Micklegate Bar. From this a crown descended – on red and white roses – to a world full of trees and flowers that bowed to the roses. The walls themselves defined both economic and legal privileges.

Bootham Bar
Bootham Bar stands on the site of one of the four gateways into the Roman legionary fortress.

Micklegate Bar
Micklegate Bar was the most important of York’s gateways. The main road to and from the south passed through the bar.

Monk Bar
Monk Bar, which dates from the early 14th century with a late 15th-century top floor, consists of a four-storey gatehouse.

Walmgate Bar
Walmgate Bar consists of a passageway with arches at each end capped by a rectangular gatehouse of two storeys.

Fishergate Postern Tower
This tower was built between 1504 and 1507 replacing an earlier tower which was known as Talkan Tower after Robert Talkan, Mayor of York in 1399.

The Walls
From the 12th century York, in common with other towns, was growing in wealth and importance at a time when the English monarch was prepared to grant charters and privileges in return for cash, to subsidise the heavy costs of war.