this is you're one of the great medieval
and Roman cities of Europe but for us
more importantly it's the historic
capital of the north of England York
stands midway between Edinburgh and
London the Romans arrived here in AD 71
and that's when the importance and the
influence of this place began to spread
throughout the entire region from this
area here where the Minster stands today
and running south towards the river
stood a massive Roman fort it covered an
area of 50 acres and it was a site at
the Roman City of York which was known
then of course as Ybor Arkham this is
constant time the great the only Roman
Emperor to be proclaimed outside Rome
and that's because it's father died here
in York in AD 306 now of course
Constantine embraced Christianity but
when the Romans left England in the
earliest seventh century Christianity
endured under king edwin of Northumbria
and it was he who built the very first
Sint Peter's Church on this site it has
been rebuilt enlarged and repaired ever
since
despite successive invaders who stormed
the town and left their mark the city
was known as he offer Wieck to the
angles your Victor the 9th century
Vikings ibrahim to the romans before
eventually setting on its present name
of york in the medieval time after the
norman conquest of 1066 a castle was
built here in York these days though all
that's left is Clifford's Tower but we
do still have the massive defensive wall
which was built all the way around the
city complete with its four entrances
known as bars
such as this one now this is warm gate
the only one with a Barbican intact
now Barbican was the sort of entrance
tunnel he had to pass through before he
would get into the city proper and he
can only do that once you've paid the
toll
Christianity's spread across the north
of England from the 45 churches and
religious houses which there were in the
city at one time indeed even today there
are still 20 churches inside the city
walls including these magnificent ruins
of the abbey of Synn Nerys and this was
a Benedictine house founded in 1088 and
completed in 1271 but then in 1534 King
Henry the eighth declared himself
supreme head of the Church of England he
closed down all the Abbey's and
monasteries and religious houses and
stripped them of their assets but your
wasn't just a military and a religious
centre it was also a trading ports boats
would come into the Humber s3 and then
they would enter the to get all the way
up here to York when they got here they
found the guilds and the guild set
standards they controlled the trade and
the quality of the goods space within
the ancient city walls was very limited
it meant that the wooden shops and
houses had to be built very close
together
indeed on some streets such as here on
the shambles they almost seem to be
touching each other
but York maintained its importance
despite the destructive activities of
King Henry the eighth by the 18th
century it become a center for the
gentry who came here to eat and drink
and bet on the horses and then in the
19th century it became a hub for the
rapidly expanding railway industry