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York Information |
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- - York Information - - -
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| YORK is the north's most compelling city, a place whose history, said
George VI, "is the history of England". This is perhaps overstating
things a little, but it reflects the significance of a metropolis that
until the Industrial Revolution was second only to London in population
and importance, not only at the heart of the country's religious life,
but also a key player in some of the major events that have shaped the
nation. These days a more provincial air hangs over the city, except in
summer when York feels like a heritage site for the benefit of tourists.
That said, no trip to this part of the country is complete without a visit
to the city. York is well placed for any number of day-trips , the most
essential being that to Castle Howard , the gem amongst English stately
homes. The City Take a look at one of the maps dotted around the city centre and you're confronted with a baffling and intimidating prospect. If the tourist office is to be believed, there are around sixty churches, museums and historic buildings crammed within York's walls. In fact the tally of things you really want to see is surprisingly limited, with most sights within easy walking distance of one another. Even so, it's hard to get round everything in less than two days, and equally difficult to stick to any rigid itinerary. The Minster is the obvious place to start, followed by the cluster of buildings that circle it; then you might cut south to the Shambles , central to the city's old centre and pedestrianized grid, or walk around the walls from the Minster to Exhibition Square for the Yorkshire Museum and St Mary's Abbey , evocative ruins surrounded by the city's loveliest gardens. Thereafter you could walk through the main shopping streets to take in the Merchant Adventurers' Hall , most striking of the city's smaller medieval buildings, then deal with Clifford's Tower and the nearby Jorvik Viking Centre and Castle Museum . Lastly, be sure to leave time to take in the National Railway Museum , a superb museum whose appeal goes way beyond railway memorabilia. The York Museums pass (£9) gives five days' unlimited access to the Castle Museum, Yorkshire Museum and City Art Gallery, offering a fair saving on entry to these attractions. |
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- - History - - -
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| The Romans chose York's swampy position, at the confluence of two minor
rivers, as the site of a military camp during their campaigns against
the Brigantes in 71 AD, and in time this fortress became a city - Eboracum
, capital of the empire's northern European territories. The base for
Hadrian's northern campaigns, it was also ruled for three years by Septimius
Severus, one of two emperors to die in the city. The other, Constantine
Chlorus, was the father of Constantine the Great, first Christian emperor
and founder of Constantinople; at Chlorus' death, his son was proclaimed
Roman Emperor here - the only occasion an emperor was enthroned in Britain. Much fought over after the decline of Rome, the city later became the fulcrum of Christianity in northern England. It was here, on Easter Day in 627, that Bishop Paulinus, on a mission to establish the Roman Church, baptized King Edwin of Northumbria in a small timber chapel built for the purpose. Six years later the church became the first minster and Paulinus the first Archbishop of York. In 867 the city fell to the Danes , who renamed it Jorvik , and later made it the capital of eastern England (Danelaw). Viking raids culminated in the decisive Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066) six miles east of the city, where English King Harold defeated Norse King Harald - a pyrrhic victory in the event, for his weakened army was defeated by the Normans just a few days later at the Battle of Hastings, with well-known consequences for all concerned. In York, aside from the physical remains left by the Vikings on show in several of the museums, the very street names tell of their profound influence - the suffix "-gate" is derived from an old Norse word for street. The Normans devastated much of York's hinterland in their infamous "Harrying of the North", building two castles astride the Ouse in the city itself. Stone walls were thrown up during the thirteenth century, when the city became a favoured Plantagenet retreat, its importance reflected in the new title of Duke of York, bestowed ever since on the monarch's second son. The 48 York Mystery Plays , one of only four surviving such cycles, date from this era, created by the powerful guilds which rose with the city's woollen industry. Although Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries took its toll on a city crammed with religious houses, York remained strongly wedded to the Catholic cause, and the most famous of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators, Guy Fawkes , was born here. During the Civil War Charles I established his court in the city, which was strongly pro-Royalist, inviting a Parliamentarian siege that was eventually lifted by Prince Rupert of the Rhine, a nephew of the King. Rupert's troops, however, were routed by Cromwell and Sir Thomas Fairfax at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644, another seminal battle in England's history, which took place just six miles west of York. Whilst the Industrial Revolution largely passed it by, the arrival of the railways brought renewed prosperity, thanks largely to the enterprise of pioneering "Railway King" George Hudson, lord mayor during the 1830s and 1840s. The railway is still a major employer, as is the confectionery industry, together with the proceeds from new service and bioscience industries - not forgetting, of course, the income from four million annual tourists. While a comparatively wealthy place, York is not without its problems, not least its susceptibility to flooding . There's river damage most years to low-lying properties near the River Ouse - the floods of 2000 were particularly damaging to the city. |
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- - Arrival Information, Transport and Tours - - -
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| Trains arrive at York Station , just outside the city walls on the west
side of the River Ouse, roughly half a mile from the historic core. National
Express buses and most other regional bus services drop off and pick up
on Rougier Street, two hundred yards north of the train station, though
National Express services call at the train station, too. There's a tourist
office at the train station (April-Oct Mon-Sat 9am-8pm, Sun 10am-5pm;
Nov-Feb Mon-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 10am-4pm; March Mon-Sat 9.30am-5.30pm, Sun
10am-5pm; tel 01904/621756), though the main office is in the De Grey
Rooms , on Exhibition Square (April-June, Sept & Oct Mon-Sat 9am-6pm,
Sun 9.30am-6pm; July & Aug daily 9am-7pm; Nov-March Mon-Sat 9am-5pm,
Sun 9.30am-3pm; tel 01904/621756). There's internet access at Internet
Exchange, 13 Stonegate (tel 01904/638808) Coffee Express, 60 Goodramgate
(tel 01904/653463), and at the youth hostels. Walking is the best way to acquaint yourself with the city, and often the only way to get from A to B, given the confused historic layout of pedestrianized streets, alleys and yards. Traveline York , 20 George Hudson St (office Mon-Fri 8.30am-5pm; telephone enquiries Mon-Sat 8am-8pm, Sun 8am-2pm; tel 01904/551400) can advise about all local and regional bus information. Or consider renting a bike , as York has over 40 miles of cycle lanes and paths - Bob Trotter, 13-15 Lord Mayor's Walk, at Monkgate (tel 01904/622868, ), Cycle Scene, 2 Ratcliffe St tel 01904/653286), and York Cycleworks, 14-16 Lawrence St (tel 01904/626664, ), can provide bikes from around £10 per day, plus a deposit. The tourist offices all push the various bus tours (from £8 per person), but much more interesting are the various guided walks on offer, from evening ghost walks to historical tours, led by the York Association of Voluntary Guides (tel 01904/640780, ). They offer a free, two-hour guided tour throughout the year (daily at 10.15am), plus additional tours in summer (April-June, Sept & Oct at 2.15pm; July & Aug at 2.15pm & 7pm), departing from outside the Art Gallery in Exhibition Square. |
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- - Eating and Drinking - - -
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| In keeping with much else in the city, many establishments are relentlessly
and self-consciously old-fashioned, though there are some real highlights
- truly historic pubs , the remarkable Betty's , the ultimate tea-shop
experience, and a scattering of well-regarded restaurants . The coffee
and Cafe-bar scene has flourished too, with the main chain-names all represented,
alongside some honourable independents. Tearooms, Cafes and Cafe-Bars Betty's 6-8 St Helen's Square. If there are tea shops in heaven they'll be like Betty's , serving a dozen or so fish and meat hot dishes, some extraordinary puddings, and a takeaway counter. Daily 9am-9pm. Blake Head Vegetarian Cafe 104 Micklegate. Bookstore-Cafe for freshly baked cakes, pates, quiche, brunch, salads and soups. Mon-Sat 9.30am-5pm, Sun 10am-5pm. Cafe No. 8 8 Gillygate. Caesar salads, ciabatta sarnies and cool sounds in this funky little Cafe-bar. Mon-Fri 11am-3pm, Thurs & Fri 11am-3pm & 5-11pm, Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 11am-5pm. City Screen Cafe-Bar Coney St. York's independent cinema has a splendid riverside Cafe-bar, serving food until 9pm and hosting stand-up comedy, afternoon jazz and poetry evenings. Daily 11am-11pm. Little Betty's 46 Stonegate. Owned by Betty's and in the same league; over 100 years old, it's the picture of a classic teashop. Daily 9am-5.30pm. National Trust York Tearooms 30 Goodramgate. Choose from the likes of scrambled eggs and smoked ham, BLTs and omlettes, and sample one of Yorkshire's noted "fruit wines". Mon-Sat 10am-5pm. Spurriergate Centre St Michael's Church, Spurriergate. Quiche, salads and baked potatoes served in the interior of twelfth-century St Michael's. Mon-Fri 10am-4.30pm, Sat 9.30am-5pm. Restaurants 19 Grape Lane 19 Grape Lane tel 01904/636366. Renowned town-house restaurant serving top-quality Modern British dishes, including some great puddings. Closed Sun & Mon. Expensive. The Patio 13 Swinegate Court East, off Grape Lane tel 01904/627879. Plenty of choice in this informal Cafe/restaurant, from overly stuffed baguettes and wraps to a plate of bangers and mash. Closed Sun & Mon eve. Moderate. La Piazza 45 Goodramgate tel 01904/642641. Authentic Italian coffee bar out front, courtyard restaurant out back, tucked into a nice Tudor building. Inexpensive to Moderate. Pizza Express River House, 17 Museum St. Grand old riverside club rooms with sought-after balcony, the venue for Pizza Express 's usual menu of good-quality pizzas. Inexpensive to Moderate. The Rubicon 5-7 Little Stonegate tel 01904/676076. Contemporary style and vegetarian world flavours, so there's nut roast and veggie lasagne but also masala dhal and burritos on offer. Inexpensive to Moderate. Siam House 63a Goodramgate tel 01904/624677. The city's first Thai restaurant rarely disappoints - the menu is huge enough to cater for any tastes. Moderate. Pubs Black Swan Peasholme Green. York's oldest (sixteenth-century) pub with some superb stone flagging and wood panelling. Home of the city's folk club. Golden Fleece 16 Pavement. One of the oldest pubs in the city, squeezed into a narrow town house opposite the Shambles and with a nice beer garden. Judge's Lodging Cellar Bar 9 Lendal. Cosy drinking hole with good beer, in the eighteenth-century cellars of the Judge's Lodging , now a smart hotel. King's Arms King's Staithe. Close to the Ouse Bridge, this pub has a fine riverside setting with outdoor tables. The Three-Legged Mare 15 High Petergate. York Brewery's cosy outlet for its own quality beer and definitely a pub for grown-ups - no juke box, no video games and no kids. Ye Olde Starre Stonegate. Vies with the Black Swan for historic precedence; good beer, a beer garden and plenty of atmosphere. |
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- - Nightlife, Culture and Entertainment - - -
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| There are healthy helpings of live music, culture and nightlife , much
of it detailed in the local Evening Press (and on their useful website,
). Most bigger bands bypass the city in favour of Leeds, though the Barbican
Centre pulls in its fair share of major mainstream artists, while the
pub music scene flourishes. The annual Early Music Festival , held in
July, is perhaps the best of its kind in Britain, with dozens of events
spread over ten days - details are available on 01904/658338 or from the
tourist offices. The famous York Mystery Plays are held every four years
- next performances are in 2004. Clubs and Live Music Barbican Centre Barbican Road tel 01904/656688, . Country, rock, folk and MOR stalwarts all appear here sooner or later. Black Swan Peasholme Green tel 01904/632922. Regular folk nights with a full range of quality bands and singer-songwriters. Sunday lunch jazz too. Fibbers Stonebow House, Stonebow tel 01904/466148, . Indie and guitar-pop bands play most nights of the week at this inventive venue. Punch Bowl Inn 7 Stonegate tel 01904/615491. Pub venue for jazz and blues, a couple of nights a week. Cinema, Theatre and The Arts City Screen 13-17 Coney St tel 01904/541155, . The choice for art-house cinema, with a riverside Cafe-bar. Grand Opera House Cumberland Street, at Clifford St tel 01904/671818 . Musicals, ballet and family entertainment in all its guises. Theatre Royal St Leonard's Place tel 01904/623568 . Musicals, pantos and mainstream theatre, as well as a Cafe-bar. |
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- - Explore York - - -
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| Around The Minster Past the Minster's west front a gateway leads into Dean's Park , a quiet green oasis bordered by a seven-arched fragment of arcade from the Norman archbishop's palace and by York Minster Library (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; free), housed in the thirteenth-century chapel of the same palace. Among its more interesting exhibits is the baptismal entry for Guy Fawkes (April 16, 1570), removed from St Michael-le-Belfrey on High Petergate (open for Sunday services only), immediately south of the Minster. Walk through Dean's Park with the Minster on your right, then through the gate at the top to reach the Treasurer's House in Chapter House Street (Easter-Oct Mon-Thurs, Sat & Sun 11am-5pm; £3.70; NT), a glorious seventeenth-century town house that stands on the site of houses used by the Minster's treasurers until the Dissolution. Just around the corner in College Street stands St William's College , an eye-catching half-timbered building studded with oriel windows, initially dedicated to the great-grandson of William the Conqueror (first Archbishop of York) and built in its present guise in 1467 for the Minster's chantry priests. Castle Howard Immersed in the deep countryside of the Howardian Hills, fifteen miles northeast of York, off the A64, Castle Howard (March-Oct daily 11am-5pm; gardens open at 10am; £7.50; grounds only £4.50; ) is the seat of one of England's leading aristocratic families and among the country's grandest stately homes. Since providing the setting for the television version of Brideshead Revisited , the house's car parks have been packed every weekend, but fitting it into a public transport itinerary is something of a problem. In summer there are just two Yorkshire Coastliner buses a day (one on Sun) from York, but various bus tours can bring you out and back, too. The colossal main house was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1699 and was almost forty years in the making - remarkable enough, were it not for the fact that Vanbrugh was, at the start of the commission at least, best known as a playwright and had no formal architectural training. Shrewdly, Vanbrugh recognized his limitations and called upon the assistance of Nicholas Hawksmoor, who had a major part in the house's structural design - the pair later worked successfully together on Blenheim Palace. If Hawksmoor's guiding hand can be seen throughout, Vanbrugh's influence is clear in the very theatricality of the building, notably in the palatial Great Hall . This was gutted by fire in the 1940s, but has subsequently been restored from old etchings and photographs to something approaching its original state. Vanbrugh soon turned his attention to the estate's thousand-acre grounds where he could indulge his playful inclinations to excess, and the formal gardens, clipped parkland, towers, obelisks and blunt sandstone follies stretch in all directions, sloping gently to a large artifical lake. He completed the Temple of the Four Winds before his death in 1726, leaving Hawskmoor to design the Howard family Mausoleum , which is taller than the house itself. Take a look, too, at the fine stables which have been converted into the Costume and Regalia Gallery, Britain's largest private collection of period clothes. City Walls Although much restored, the city's superb walls date mainly from the fourteenth century, though fragments of Norman work survive, particularly in the gates (or "bars"), whilst the northern sections still follow the line of the Roman ramparts. Monk Bar at the northern end of Goodramgate is as good a point of access as any, tallest of the city's four main gates and host to a small Richard III Museum (daily: March-Oct 9am-5pm; Nov-Feb 9.30am-4pm; £2; ), where you're invited to decide on the guilt or innocence of England's most maligned king. For just a taste of the walls' best section, take the ten-minute stroll west from Monk Bar to Bootham Bar , the only gate on the site of a Roman gateway and marking the traditional northern entrance to the city. A stroll round the walls' entire two-and-a-half-mile length will take you past the southwestern Micklegate Bar , long considered the most important of the gates since it, in turn, marked the start of the road to London. It was built to a Norman design reputedly using ancient stone coffins as building stone, and was later used to exhibit the heads of executed criminals and rebels. The engaging Micklegate Bar Museum (daily 9am-5pm; £1.50) occupies a surviving fortified tower. National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum on Leeman Road (daily 10am-6pm; free; ), ten minutes' walk from the station, is a must if you have even the slightest interest in railways, history, engineering or Victoriana. The Great Hall alone features some fifty restored locomotives dating from 1829 onwards, among them the Mallard , at 126mph the world's fastest steam engine. The Station Hall, a former goods station, complete with tracks and platforms, holds the major permanent exhibitions, where you can see the plush splendour of the royal carriages ("Palaces on Wheels") and the bleak segregation of classes in the Victorian coaches. A separate wing, "The Works", provides access to the engineering workshop where conservation work is undertaken; to a walk-round backstage warehouse area, showcasing the museum's reserve collection; and to a track-and-signal viewing area which has been established over the East Coast main line. Shambles The Shambles , off King's Square at the southern end of Goodramgate, could be taken as the epitome of medieval York, though the crowds and self-conscious quaintness take the edge off what would otherwise be a perfect medieval thoroughfare. Flagstoned, almost impossibly narrow and lined with perilously leaning timber-framed houses, it was the home of York's butchers, its erstwhile stench and squalor now difficult to imagine, though old meat hooks still adorn the odd house. At no. 35, there's a shrine (closed to the public) to Margaret Clitherow, the Catholic wife of a butcher, martyred in 1586 for allegedly sheltering priests; she was pressed to death with rocks piled on top of a board on the city's Ouse Bridge. Newgate market (daily 8am-5pm) lies off the Shambles, together with the core of the city's shopping streets. South to Jorvik At the Merchant Adventurers' Hall , off Fossgate (April-Sept Mon-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun noon-4pm; Oct-March Mon-Sat 9am-3.30pm; £2), the overpowering whiff of wood polish prepares you for one of the finest medieval timber-framed halls in Europe. The beautiful building was raised by the city's most powerful guild, dealers in wool from the Wolds, woollens from the Dales and lead from the Pennines, commodities that were traded for exotica from far and wide. Fairfax House , on nearby Castlegate (March-Dec Mon-Thurs & Sat 11am-5pm, Sun 1.30-5pm; guided tours Aug & Sept Fri at 11am & 2pm; closed Jan & Feb; £4; ), celebrates the wealth of a later period. The elegant Georgian town house was restored to house the collection of fine arts left by Noel Terry, scion of one of the city's chocolate dynasties. The bulk of the collection consists of eighteenth-century furniture and clocks, and every December the popular "Keeping of Christmas" exhibition recreates a Georgian Christmas in the house. Around the corner, in the Coppergate shopping centre, the crowds descend upon the city's blockbuster Viking exhibit - Jorvik (daily: April-Oct 9am-5.30pm; Nov-March 10am-4.30pm; £6.95; ). This multi-million-pound affair flies visitors back in "time capsules" to the tenth-century city of York, presenting not just the sights but the sounds and even the smells of a riverside Viking settlement, complete with animatronic figures, street scenes and panoramic views of the re-created city. Not surprisingly, it's a hugely popular exhibit, and great for children, though you can avoid queuing by pre-booking your entrance ticket with a credit card, by calling tel 01904/543043. It's worth noting that the museum organizes York's annual Viking Festival every February when themed events take place throughout the city - details from the Festival Office at the centre. St Helen's Square And Stonegate The street called Lendal cuts down from Museum Street to St Helen's Square - marking the entrance to the Roman city - and the York institution that is Betty's tearooms, where you're close to a couple of impressive historic buildings. The Georgian Mansion House (1725), in St Helen's Square, is the private home of the city's mayor, and is consequently open only to guided tours by prior arrangement (call 01904/551049). However, you can visit the 600-year-old Guildhall (May-Oct Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 2-5pm; Nov-April Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; free) behind, which was almost totally destroyed by bombing in 1942, but has since been restored to a near identical replica of its original, timber-roofed state. From St Helen's Square, Stonegate leads northeast towards the Minster, a street as ancient as the city itself. Originally the Via Praetoria of Roman York, it's now paved with thick flags of York stone, which were once carried along here to build the Minster, hence the street name. Guy Fawkes' parents lived on Stonegate (there's a plaque opposite the Mulberry Hall shop). York Castle and The Castle Museum Despite the rich architectural heritage elsewhere in the city, there's precious little left of York Castle , one of two established by William the Conqueror. Only the perilously leaning Clifford's Tower (daily: Easter-June & Sept 10am-6pm; July & Aug 10am-7.30pm; Oct 10am-5pm; Nov-Easter 10am-4pm or dusk; £2; EH) remains, as evocative a piece of military engineering as you could wish for: a stark and isolated stone keep built on one of William's mottes between 1245 and 1262. Immediately east of the tower lies the excellent Castle Museum (April-Oct daily 9.30am-5pm; Nov-March Mon-Sat 9.30am-4pm, Sun 10am-4pm; £5.75), a remarkable collection founded by a Dr Kirk of Pickering, who in the 1920s realized that many of the everyday items used in rural areas were in danger of disappearing. He took the unusual step of accepting bric-a-brac from his patients in lieu of fees. A whole range of early craft, folk and agricultural ephemera is complemented by costumes, militaria, workshops, two entire reconstructed streets and special exhibitions on subjects as diverse as chocolate, burials and fire engines. Pride of place is given to a dazzling Viking helmet, discovered during the Coppergate excavations and the only one of its kind ever found. York Minster York Minster (daily: June-Sept 7am-8.30pm; Oct-May 7am-6pm; £3 donation requested; ) ranks as one of the country's most important sights. Seat of the Archbishop of York, it is Britain's largest Gothic building and home to countless treasures, not least of which is the world's largest medieval stained-glass window and an estimated half of all the medieval stained glass in England. In its earliest incarnation the Minster was probably the wooden chapel used to baptize King Edwin of Northumbria in 627. After its stone successors were destroyed by the Danes, the first significant foundations were laid around 1080 and it was from the germ of this Norman church that the present structure emerged. The oldest surviving fabric, in the south transept, dates from 1220 and the reign of Archbishop Walter de Grey. A new chapter house, in the Decorated style, appeared in 1300, and a new nave in the same style was completed in 1338. The Perpendicular choir was realized in 1450 and the western towers in 1472. In 1480, the thirteenth-century central tower, which had collapsed in 1407, was rebuilt, thereby bringing the Minster to more or less its present state. Nothing else in the Minster can match the magnificence of the stained glass in the nave and transepts. The West Window (1338) contains distinctive heart-shaped upper tracery (the "Heart of Yorkshire"), whilst in the nave's north aisle, the second bay window (1155) contains slivers of the oldest stained glass in the country. The north transept's Five Sisters Window is named after the five fifty-foot lancets, each glazed with thirteenth-century grisaille , a distinctive frosted, silvery-grey glass. Opposite, the south transept contains a sixteenth-century, 17,000-piece Rose Window , commemorating the 1486 marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, an alliance which marked the end of the Wars of the Roses. The greatest of the church's 128 windows, however, is the majestic East Window (1405), at 78ft by 31ft the world's largest area of medieval stained glass in a single window. Its themes are the beginning and the end of the world, the upper panels showing scenes from the Old Testament, the lower sections mainly episodes from the book of Revelation. Before leaving the main body of the interior, give some time to the north transept's 400-year-old wooden clock with its oak knights, and the stone choir screen , decorated with life-size figures of English monarchs from William I to Henry VI - all except the latter carved in the last quarter of the fifteenth century. The painted stone shields round much of the nave and choir are those of Edward II and the barons who in 1309-10 held a "parliament" in York. Amongst the many tombs , those of most interest are the monument in the south transept to Walter de Grey, a beautiful grey-green canopy protecting a recumbent stone figure, and the tomb of the 10-year-old William, second son of Edward III, in the choir aisle. The foundations, or undercroft (£3), have been turned into a museum, fitted into a space excavated during restorations in the 1960s. Amongst precious church relics in the adjoining treasury are silver plate found in Walter de Grey's tomb and the eleventh-century Horn of Ulf, presented to the Minster by a relative of the tide-turning King Canute. There's also access from the undercroft to the crypt , the spot that transmits the most powerful sense of antiquity, as it contains portions of Archbishop Roger's choir and sections of the 1080 church, including pillars with fine Romanesque capitals. Access to the undercroft, treasury and crypt is from the south transept, also the entrance to the central tower (£3), which you can climb for rooftop views over the city. Finally pop into the Chapter House (£1), an architectural novelty whose buttressed octagonal walls remove the need for a central pillar, otherwise a common feature of this type of building. Yorkshire Museum and St Mary's Abbey South of Exhibition Square on Museum Street stands the entrance to the Yorkshire Museum (daily 10am-5pm; £4.50), which lies within the beautifully laid-out grounds of St Mary's Abbey, itself now in ruins. It's one of York's better museums, strong on archeological remains which it presents in a series of rooms examining the Roman presence in the city. There are impressive displays of Viking and Anglo-Saxon artefacts, too, though chief exhibit is the fifteenth-century Middleham Jewel, found near Middleham Castle in 1985 - claimed as the finest piece of Gothic jewellery in England. Part of the museum basement incorporates the fireplace and chapter house of St Mary's Abbey (dawn to dusk; free), whose ruins lie around the Museum Gardens, the abbey's former grounds. Founded around 1080, the abbey later became an important Benedictine foundation, additionally significant as it was from here that disenchanted monks fled to found Fountains Abbey. |
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