York

‘Great decayes and breaches’In spite of attacks on the city during the English Civil War and on other occasions, York is unique in preserving most of its medieval city walls and gates. You can walk up stone steps on to the walks that run along the insides of the walls, giving good views of the city and a sense of how its defenders would have seen things in the Middle Ages and later. The gates, or bars as they’re called hereabouts, still look the business in many ways, with their small openings, good for shooting arrows out of but not letting missiles in, and their narrow ways through for traffic. They stand proud like miniature medieval castles and attract a good deal of interest. There are four main gates in the walls.The most unusual and outstanding of them is Walmgate Bar, to the southeast. It’s unique, in that it still has its original barbican, the outwork or outer fortification that kept invaders at arms length, enabling defenders to pick many enemies off before they got close…

Commenting on Bubbles has been removed. Why? If you want to talk about this post, write to the author, use the comments on their blog if it has them, or reply with a "RE:" post on your own blog. Suggestions? feedback@bubbles.town