This is the notebook of
Professor Uffington Griswold I I One day this wil be found at the bottom of a book pile, on a rotten dusty shelf. This notebook was written for an adventurous reader to uncover th e gruesome and treasured secrets of Micklegate Bar
I walked up and down around the city walls on a 2.5 mile hike today! As I came to a resting point, overshadowing a long street stands a large stone building: Micklegate Bar. Are we there yet?
Today we can only imagine the role of the bar and its importance to the history of York. I’m sure there wil be plenty of tales to tell.
It is important to note that Micklegate Bar is not a bar, but a gateway. It takes its name from a street called ‘Micklegate’ (named ‘Mykla Gata’ by the Vikings), which translates as ‘Great Street’ in modern English. So, let’s repeat: Micklegate Bar is not a pub. It is a gateway. And if family or friends come here for an alcoholic drink, they can forget it.
Quick Fact:the most
hT e wal s and bars are l va e i d e M d n a n a m o R e complet cale s e g r a l a h c u s n o t f e structure l in England.
Anyway, back to what’s important—history.
Probably first built in the early 1100s, Micklegate Bar has had several DIY restorations.
1350
1125 1196
A house was built over Micklegate Bar. The barbican and the portcullis worked like a tag team. Anyone coming through the Bar would need first to enter the barbican (a walled area with no roof, where visitors could be held before being let through into the city). The portcullis (a heavy wooden gate which could be raised and lowered) could be dropped to block the gateway in an emergency. Arrows and stones could be He got me shot or dropped from the arrow slits. Hot sand or oil could also be poured down onto an attacking army. What a nice welcome! Take a look at the sketch I found:
13 shil ings and 3 pence for this?
The walls were in a bad state. Some said they should be pulled down. Others wanted to save them.
1800
Around the year 1350, 1826 1585 Micklegate Bar gained its The Micklegate side of the Bar was Demolition work began at Micklegate Bar. The barbican was barbican and portcullis for rebuilt in wood and plaster. pulled down, as were the bits that had been added in 1585. extra defence. You see the big piece of wood with holes in it, behind the desk? That’s the portcullis. Although it sits quietly in its original slots, it was once an important part of the Bar’s defences.
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Micklegate Bar may be gruesome, but it is also very important. It is the Royal Gateway. Kings and queens came to visit, with the bar decorated to their demands. It is vital to note that not all visits went according to plan. Hidden in the wall I found some case files. Let’s have a look at the top 5. In Last Place: Name: King Richard I Date of Visit: 1392 Details: In 1392, Richard I fell out with the people of London when they refused his request for a loan. He got his own back by moving his government to York for the whole of the summer! He visited the city on many occasions, and gave the mayor the sword that is carried in processions with its point down whenever the monarch is in the city.
Footnote:
Richard I is known for being locked away at Pontefract Castle where he died. It is said his death was ordered by Henry IV.
In 4th Place: Name: King James I Date of Visit: 1603 Details: King James I arrived in York to trumpeters sounding loudly from the top of the walls. The people of York were demonstrating acts of loyalty through role play and mime.
In 3rd Place: Name: King Henry VII Date of Visit: 1486 Details: King Henry VII was received at Micklegate Bar with a backdrop made to look like heaven. A crown was lowered down, on a bed of red and white roses. The spectators greeted him dressed up as trees and flowers, bowing to him.
What are they doing?
Heaven
2nd Place: Name: King Henry VII Date of Visit: 1541 Details: In 1541, the people of York expected Henry VII to come through Micklegate Bar, like all royal visitors before him. They built canvas towers, turrets and battlements especial y for him. In the end, however, Henry surprised everyone by coming through Walmgate Bar (on the other side of the city) instead!
And 1st place goes to: Name: Queen Victoria Date of Visit: 1854 Details: Queen Victoria wished to visit the city of York, with no fuss to be made. In the end, however, she got more than she bargained for. On her arrival she was met at Micklegate Bar by a military display and many spectators. To make matters worse, the wooden structures holding the people up high collapsed! Oops! After the chaos, Queen Victoria visit ed the Royal Station Hotel. When it c ame to leaving, she was handed a bil ! Being outraged at having to pay, she vowe d never to return to York again. She kept to her word!
Footnote:
ilgrimage of Grace’, P ‘ the as wn kno , t ol rev a r yea s thi n I k. Yor n i ed k i l ch mu t sn’ wa I VI By 1536, Henry p sto to ry Hen g n Ki d nte wa s wer o l fol s hi and e Ask e. Ask ert Rob d e l cal began in the north, led by a man nd guilty of fou s wa o wh e, Ask ert Rob for y l bad up ed end n o i l el reb The s. e i ter his attacks on the monas treason and hanged in chains at York Castle.
Footnote:
Rumour has it, when Queen Victoria travel ed through York by train, she ordered for the blinds to be put down!
The present royal family has made its own appearances at Micklegate Bar. Queen Elizabeth I visited official y in 1971 and 1977, entering York city via Micklegate bar in full decoration.
Although Micklegate Bar had glamour, it is an important fact that things aren’t always what they seem. Whilst royalty got sparkling decorations and displays, the York people got blood, guts and gore - literally! The heads and other body parts of traitors were placed on spikes and displayed. They were left to rot and to be eaten by crows.
Take a look at the snippet I found in an article:
‘off with his head and set it on York’s gates; So York may overlook the town of York’
oken by the cruel These are the words sp u in Shakespeare’s Queen Margaret of Anjo ey describe what play ‘Henry VI’. Th ke of York, after he happened to Richard, Du emies at Wakefield was defeated by his en any battles fought in 1460, in one of the m Roses. Not content during the Wars of the on display on with putting his head een ordered that a Micklegate Bar, the qu top of it to mock paper crown be placed on her fallen foe.
Micklegate Bar was the last view of the city glimpsed by condemned criminals on their way to the gallows at York’s Tyburn (a place where people found guilty of serious crimes were hanged). Next to York’s racecourse, on the main road towards Tadcaster, you can stil find the spot where the gallows stood. York had several sets of gallows, but those at Tyburn were the busiest, and were there between 1379 and 1801. The most famous person to pass through Micklegate Bar on the way to his execution was the highwayman Dick Turpin. Micklegate Bar also had its own cell, where criminals were sometimes kept overnight. Imagine being one of the people who lived in Micklegate Bar. Would you feel at home here, knowing about all of the horrible and gruesome things that happened in and around the Bar?
Well, most of my work here is done. I am nearly at the end of my gruel ing research at Micklegate Bar. See below for a few extras I forgot to add in earlier.
There are three different coats of arms (the badge of an important family or town) to be seen on the Tadcaster Road side of the Bar. The highest one shows the royal coat of arms. Next down are two shields Three men stand on the top of the Bar. Ever think they get with the coat of arms of the City s i way arch the e abov Just . York of out? day , n i day there g n bored standi They are allegedly the Knight, the Mayor and the Mason. the coat of arms of Sir John ListerKaye, a Lord Mayor of York. ‘The man who paid for it (the Mayor); the man who built it (the Mason) and the man who defended it (the Knight)’ Mason
Knight
Mayor
This is me. For when I’m famous…
Like the Mayor and the royal family, some of us have a coat of arms too. Do you know if you have one? If not, why not have a go at creating your very own coat of arms on the next page? It can be something very simple or something outrageous.