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The Castle Museum and the clifford tower in York
By Mark on March 28, 2010
This is a post about some of the attractions you will find in York city, Yorkshire, England. The main attraction for me is the Castle Museum, which is located in the same area as the York Castle and Clifford Tower, which is part of the castle and the York Crown Court, which once upon a time was an 18th century Courthouse. There are still serious people today being accused of serious criminal events, within the court. The Castle Museum, was founded in 1938, by Dr John Kirk, before that it was the Debtors Prison which was built in 1701-05 using stone from the ruins of the castle and also the Female Prison which was built in 1780-1785. But it was changed into the museum, due to it becoming old and modern prisons being made. All of these places are all on the original site that William the Conqueror, set up the castle in 1068.
It has got to be one of the major attractions, apart from the York Minster Gothic Catherdral and the modern York Wheel, because it has so much history, within the building, there are recreations of the Victorian parlour and a Jacobean dining room, many different types of historic displays in Dr. Kirk’s Gallery, the Hearth Gallery, and craft workshops which are in the cells of the old Debtors Prison. You have a old recreation of Victorian street, they have named it Kirkgate, after Dr. Kirk, the man who created the museum. In what was the Edwardian Street, you now an exhibit of the 1960′s. There are also other attractions like the Barn Gallery, the Children’s Gallery and the military and costume displays and there is even a possiblity that prison may have held Dick Turpin, and that cell can also be visited.
Now York castle is tower like castle which was placed on an artificial mount or hill in the centre of York City, the Clifford’s Tower is also apart of the castle, it was used as a fort during the past years of William the Conquer, the main remains of the castle are the keep and some of the curtain wall which date back to the 13th and 14th centuries. This castle has seen so much through it’s time on the mount dating back to 1068 all the way through to the English Civil War, from 1642 to 1646.
You will find that the walls of the stone tower still stand, but the roof and central pillar are gone.
The castle was originally designed as a motte and bailey fort. It had a major work done to the castle in 1245 to 1270′s and this resulted in the crescent shaped bailey area being enclosed by a high stone wall with regularly spaced cylindrical towers. They put a gate on the town side, so it was adjacent, to the motte. They then put another gate on the opposite side of the bailey, and today you can still see parts of the gate, this gave access to the open country south of the castle. There are historians who believe that the bailey included two halls, a chapel, a kitchen and a prison. To learn more about the castle , click on the link below.
- Learn about the Castle Museum in York:
- Learn about York Castle and Cliffords Tower on Wikipedia:
- Learn about York on Wikipedia:
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