Twenty Things you didn't Know about York
1. The Roman name for York – Eboracum– means “the place of the Yew Trees” . In 71AD the legendary 9th Roman Legion was ordered to march north from its Lincoln stronghold and subdue hostile northern tribes, which were threatening the Roman advance. They built a fortress at “the place of the yew trees”, and so began the history of York.
2. York, together with Gloucester, is Britain’s oldest surviving dukedom. The title, Duke of York, was created in the 14th century by Richard II for his uncle, Edmund of Langley. York gained a Duke and a Duchess on 23 July 1986, as Prince Andrew was created Duke of York in the morning and married Sarah Ferguson in the afternoon. In 1987 Prince Andrew became the fifth successive Duke to receive Freedom of the City and his wife became the first Duchess to receive similar rights. The couple divorced in 1996, though the Duchess retains her title.
3. JORVIK is the only attraction of its kind that is based on a real archaeological dig, giving it a unique authenticity. Over 15000 objects were recovered in the process of uncovering a Viking village complete with workshops, rubbish pits, latrines and wells. The most spectacular find was an exquisitely preserved Anglo Saxon helmet, now on view in the Castle Museum. JORVIK has attracted over 13 million visitors in 18 years and has become one of Britain’s top visitor attractions.
4. York Minster is the largest gothic cathedral in northern Europe and took 252 years to build. Edwin, King of Northumbria, founded the first Minster in 627, starting a tradition of the daily worship of God in York. The Minster has 128 stained glass windows, containing in the region of 2 million separate pieces of glass. York is said to contain more than half of the country’s finest stained glass. The Great East Window is the largest stained glass window in the world (roughly the size of a tennis court) and was created between 1405 and 1408 by John Thornton of Coventry.
5. The National Railway Museum in York is the largest museum of its kind in the world, and when it opened in 1975 (although a railway museum was first established in York in 1927), it was the first national collection to be sited outside London. Awarded European Museum of the Year in 2001, today it attracts over half a million visitors each year. On the East coast railway line, York is exactly half way between London and Edinburgh, denoted by a sign showing London 200 miles to the south and Edinburgh 200 miles to the north.
6. York is one of Britain’s best bike-friendly cities . Sustrans, developers of the National Cycle Network, praise York for having done more than most cities in Britain to cater for the needs of the cyclist and accepting the role of the bicycle in reducing traffic congestion in our cities. York has its own Cycling Officer at the city council, which also produces an excellent map of cycling facilities in York. Several long distance cycle routes pass right through the city centre, even alongside the Minster itself, including the White Rose Cycle Route from Hull to Middlesbrough.
7. The hit film “Elizabeth” was the first film ever to gain permission to use the interior of York Minster as a location.
8. York is the most haunted city in Europe – and that’s official! President of the Ghost Research Foundation International, Jason Karl, declared York the most haunted city in Europe in September 2002. The Treasurer’s House in York was in the Guinness Book of Records for having the ‘Ghosts of Greatest Longevity’. One of the city’s most famous ghost stories happened here when in 1953 a young plumber was terrified to see a troop of Roman soldiers appear through a wall. It is now known that the house was built over a Roman road.
9. Scots Beware! In York it is still (apparently) legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow, but only if you spot him within the city walls after dark.
10. Grape Lane these days an attractive and cosmopolitan corner of York, well populated by cafes and restaurants, was ‘Grope’ Lane in medieval times, , a somewhat less salubrious neighbourhood frequented by ladies of the night.
11. Guy Fawkes (1570-1606) was a York-born religious extremist, known for the Catholic Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He attended St Peter’s school in York where even today the pupils refrain the traditionally English custom of burning his effigy (the guy) on bonfire night each November 5th.
12. Up to the 18th century, York was the northern capital of printing and publishing. A little red devil sits outside number 33 Stonegate, not because the inhabitants were diabolical, but because its presence advertised the location of the printers – printers’ devils was the nickname given to the printers’ apprentices who carried hot metal type.
13. York’s racecourse vies with Ascot and Cheltenham as one of the best racecourses in the country . York races are held every year at the Knavesmire from May to October – the Romans started racing in York in 208 AD.
14. The biggest festival of food and drink in Great Britain is held every September in York. This ten-day festival incorporates many different events, from demonstrations and specialist markets to food samplings and ale trails.
15. The city gave its name to every trucker’s favourite chocolate bar – yes, the Yorkie is actually made in York! As is the famous Kit Kat – the UK’s no 1 confectionery product for the last 14 years. York has a long history of chocolate making: Joseph Rowntree established his confectionery business here – now owned by Nestlé – and as its name implies, Terry’s of York (now closed) chocolate factory also grew up here. Rowntree and Terry were both great benefactors of York, Rowntree in particular for his campaigning for social improvement. The Noel Terry Collection of English Furniture is now housed in Fairfax House in York, a superb collection of over 100 pieces of outstanding craftsmanship, some dating back to the 17th century.
16. York has the longest and best-preserved town walls in England. The town walls weigh 100,000 metric tonnes and are 3.4 kilometres long. Each year 2.5 million people walk along the city walls. The walls are a scheduled ancient monument. There are five main bars or gateways, one Victorian gateway, one postern (a small gateway) and 45 towers.
17. For the first time in nearly fifty years, York beer is being brewed again within the city walls at the York Brewery. T Here you can see, smell and taste some of the finest cask conditioned ales being brewed for local, national and worldwide consumption. York Brewery scooped the 2002 Champion and Gold Medal of the Brewing Industry International Awards, led by their popular strong beer ‘Centurions Ghost Ale’, which was named after a famous local ghost story.
18. In his book England’s Thousand Best Churches, Simon Jenkins declares York to have England’s finest set of medieval town churches, and acknowledges York’s unique success in bringing them back to life. Nineteen churches from this period are still standing. Particular highlights are Holy Trinity church in Goodramgate, set in a leafy secluded churchyard and retaining its original box pews and medieval glass (including an outstanding east window from 1470); All Saints on Pavement, with the best tower in York, and St Margaret’s church on Walmgate, home to the National Centre for Early Music, with a magnificent Romanesque doorway and fine brick tower. Music festivals are held here in the summer and at Christmas. The churches can be explored following a Church Trails leaflet available from the Tourist Information Centre.
19. York has several American connections. The obvious one is New York and New York County, named after James, Duke of York, when the British captured the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam and changed its name to New York. In addition, York, Pennsylvania was named after York (which was already 1670 years old when its US namesake was founded in 1741). And Fairfax County, USA was named after the Fairfax family of Fairfax House, York, when a family member married into the Culpepper family in the 18th century, as a result inheriting 5 million acres of land in Virginia.
20. The Hansom cab public house is named after one Joseph Hansom of York, designer of the “Patent Safety Cab” in 1834. A fine example of his horse-drawn masterpiece can be seen in Kirkgate, the reconstructed Victorian street at the Castle Museum.
For any further information and your free guide to York please contact: York Visitor Information Centre, Tel: 01904 550099, email: info@visityork.org or visit the website at www.visityork.org
Press contact: Kay Hyde, PR Manager - Visit York, Tel: 01904 554451, email: kh@visityork.org website: www.visityork.org