184 - On a walk around York's city walls it soon becomes obvious that there is little in the way of standardisation in the design. This is clearly shown by the differences in design of the interval towers.
These four examples lie between Micklegate Bar and Baille Hill close to the River Ouse near Skeldergate Bridge. Oblong, round, angled, different numbers of arrow slits, all are different, and these were not chosen for their differences, but because they were not obscured by trees.
A wonderful collage of great captures. These towers whilst different all show great craftsmanship and one wonders at the expense in building them. Were the walls of York attacked at any time or were they so impressive that no one dared ??
Nice grouping of these features. Were arrow slits all made in the shape of a cross due to the influence of the church or because they are the most efficient way to construct them?
Clearly they were not all designed by asingle architect! Good collage, pointing out the differences. @bobhuegel I imagine the cross slit is for practical purposes when aiming.
There are really two parts to this - the justification for building (or rebuilding) such extensive walls in medieval times was the threat from Scottish attackers, and the King and his parliament who moved to York to better direct his armies. They obviously needed protecting.
Secondly, the longest attack on the city was in 1644, when during the civil war the city was under siege for 3 months, after which the defenders (who were loyal to the King) surrendered to parliamentary forces.
Thank you Brian. I suppose that because the full circuit took some 200 years to build, it's almost inevitable that there would be differences. Also, there have been numerous periods of damage, rebuilding and alterations in the 600 years since its completion, to further change things. But the thing about these different designs of tower is that they were all within a 300 yard stretch along the walls.
Thank you Bob. The cross shape allows the defender to shoot at different heights and to the left and right, while minimising the risk of being hit by any incoming arrows / missiles, because of the narrow shape.
Thank you Louise. Although I'd noticed some differences, I hadn't realised that there was quite such a variety. These were all within one 300 yard stretch of the walls.
Thank you Janet - quite correct, the walls took 200 years to build, so there were lots of changes along the way, and there have been many more changes in the hundreds of years since then. The Victorians in particular were notorious for making things fit their preconceived notions of how things should be!
There are really two parts to this - the justification for building (or rebuilding) such extensive walls in medieval times was the threat from Scottish attackers, and the King and his parliament who moved to York to better direct his armies. They obviously needed protecting.
Secondly, the longest attack on the city was in 1644, when during the civil war the city was under siege for 3 months, after which the defenders (who were loyal to the King) surrendered to parliamentary forces.
Thank you Debra - the walls circuit is one of the most complete in Britain.
Thank you Brian. I suppose that because the full circuit took some 200 years to build, it's almost inevitable that there would be differences. Also, there have been numerous periods of damage, rebuilding and alterations in the 600 years since its completion, to further change things. But the thing about these different designs of tower is that they were all within a 300 yard stretch along the walls.
Thank you Bob. The cross shape allows the defender to shoot at different heights and to the left and right, while minimising the risk of being hit by any incoming arrows / missiles, because of the narrow shape.
Thank you Louise. Although I'd noticed some differences, I hadn't realised that there was quite such a variety. These were all within one 300 yard stretch of the walls.
Thank you Brian, glad you like it!
Thank you Janet - quite correct, the walls took 200 years to build, so there were lots of changes along the way, and there have been many more changes in the hundreds of years since then. The Victorians in particular were notorious for making things fit their preconceived notions of how things should be!
Thank you Livia, glad you like it!
Thank you Marie, glad you like it!
Thank you Ruth - I'll be doing a bit more of the walls in a few days.
Thank you Tanja - and I agree, there is so much to discover around the world!
Thank you Roslyn, glad you like it!
Thank you Lynne, the walls tour will be starting again quite soon!