UK’s Best Medieval Gates Have Doors On The Front For Brutal Reason

York has the most complete set of medieval city walls in Britain, stretching over two miles and containing four incredible fortified gateways, or as we call them, bars. All four are entirely unique and contain hidden secrets and stories that even locals aren't aware of, like on the Northern Gate, known as Monk Bar, which is the tallest of the four, dating to the early 14th century, and above the front arch is something remarkable. Still observable is a portcullis, which is said to still be in working condition. Of course, in medieval times, stone flooring would not have been present beneath, there'd have been natural ground for the portcullis spikes to stick into firmly as a strong defensive structure. To juxtapose this, the back side of the bar retains its homely medieval windows and balcony, which, if you can picture it in medieval times, was likely used for city announcements. Even still, the entire structure was designed for defence. All floors are stone vaulted and you can see where the stairs ascend on alternate sides of the bar. Furthermore, the staircase is extremely narrow. This feels like a real step back in time, it's wonderful. Of course, the façade is covered in arrow slits, but certain holes do appear different. On the uppermost story of Monk Bar, which was constructed during the reign of Richard III, above the Royal Coat of Arms and the two York Coat of Arms, two square holes are visible. These were for cannons and the cross slits above were for aiming. Defence, defence, defence. But also on this façade, two suspicious wooden doorways that seem to exit the fortress to nowhere, but the reality of these doors is much, much darker. The exact same phenomenon occurs on the opposite southern entrance to the city, at Micklegate Bar, with two very similar doors. Another likeness between the two bars lies within the Undercroft. On this bar it's just portcullis grooves, but beyond this is a bricked up doorway. There was also one on the left of Monk Bar. These were muriage doors used by collectors who would tax traders entering the city to pay for the upkeep of the walls and these bars. But Micklegate Bar is considered the most important bar historically, pretty simply because it's the southern entrance to the city. This is traditionally where monarchs are greeted by our Lord Mayor, beneath the coat of arms of Edward III, again flanked by the city coat of arms. That has been one of the major functions of this bar for notable heads. I believe the last head up here was in the mid-18th century, meaning this pub just ahead of us has a gruesome name. Harry Hotspur was the nickname for Henry Percy, of the notable Percy family, an English knight who unsuccessfully rebelled against Henry IV, and his head was placed atop this very gate. But the most incredible fact about this bar, to me, is the masonry. The top of the bar dates to the 14th century again but then descends into a Norman lower floor and undercroft, which in itself is something we should feel grateful to witness. But at the base of the Norman structure we can see evidently reused Roman stone, including core sandstone from Roman coffins going back nearly 2,000 years. The Roman road to the south of the settlement of York follows the same direction as Blossom Street now, and of course Roman cemeteries would have lined these roads. Just mind-boggling that thousands of people walk past this every day on their way to work. But this isn't the only example of this. The western gate also shares a similar feature. Reused Roman gritstone is present. Well, the Romans actually created the first gate here nearly 2,000 years ago, and this is the only bar of the four that is present on the Roman gate's exact site. In a recent video I went into the coffee shop next to the bar to find the remaining Roman wall beneath the floor. But on the bar there are again some very interesting features. Walking up the Victorian steps, the inside is rather mundane apart from, of course, the old portcullis on the left. On the opposite wall is another arrow slit. But all is not what it seems here, so try and have a think why. By the 1830s the bar was in very poor shape. By now it was centuries old and at risk of destruction. The leading figure against the idea of destruction is now commemorated over there looking at the bar. William Ettie, a local artist, is seen standing before a weathered version of Bootham Bar by his knee. Very cool statue, and this feels the right time to give a massive thanks to the Friends of York Walls for the upkeep they provide, and also their research that I've used for this video, without which this would not have been possible to create. I'll put their link in the description. But how does this relate to the arrow slit? Well this inner facade was rebuilt in that 1830s restoration project, and the arrow slit was added into the city. Obviously this would have made no sense in medieval times. It would have looked something like Monk Bar as these structures were inhabited. Also in the 19th century these small stone statues were added based on previous medieval statues that stood on these bartisans. You'll have noticed them on the other bars that I've showed you as well. Well on Bootham Bar one of the figures is a stone mason, again with a model of this very gate. The only bar without these stone figures is the final one, Wormgate Bar. But here lies the answer to the suspicious door query. This bar is actually a treat for any door aficionados who may be watching. Beneath the Elizabethan extension to the back of the bar, a wonderful 15th century oak door remains, with a little wicket gate inside for easy medieval pedestrian access. By the way a super cool fact lies just through the arch, again past the portcullis grooves and on the facade, which dates to the 14th century. This plaque commemorates the 1840 full restoration of this bar which was paid for with the 500 pounds charged to the Great North of England Railway Company for creating this large archway in the city walls over near the river. But back to the secret doors. If we go back to Wormgate Bar's upstairs entrance, which unfortunately my filming day was on the one day coffee shop, inside is closed. But if you were to walk in through this door and then through the building's stone passages directly above me as I'm pointing to now and you keep walking through out of the Bartizans and you arrive on the last intact surviving Barbican in England dating to the 14th century. Still showing damage from the English Civil War in the form of a cannonball and a failed mine causing a dip in the wall. But the purpose of the Barbican was that attackers would get trapped between the main inner gate and the outer gate in this archway over here near the road. This area was known as the killing ground. The helpless souls would then be mercilessly attacked from above where visitors now sit and drink tea and eat scones. Guess what? All three other bars once had an attached Barbican just like this one extending forward until they were all demolished in the early 19th century period I mentioned earlier due to their poor conditions. But the primary reason was traffic congestion. Monk Bar's Barbican was removed in 1825. Micklegate's was removed in 1826 after half of it had already collapsed anyway and Bootham Bar in the early 1830s when this street St Leonard's Place was created. As you can see by Wormgate Bar a large chunk again of the medieval wall was actually cut through in an archway just like I showed earlier because the space around the bar afforded that possibility. When we look at the other three bars due to their congestion and their closer proximity to the real centre of York creating such archways as by Wormgate Bar is virtually impossible. Even though small side walkways have been cut through this would never be possible to the standard that Wormgate Bar was. There were of course a few other reasons why Wormgate Bar survived but anyway for some reason the doors don't exist on the facade of Bootham Bar but whenever you next visit York just stand for a second and contemplate at Monk Bar and Micklegate Bar. These exact doors were built so that soldiers defending York could rush out to their position along the Barbican wall and annihilate other men like pigs in a slaughterhouse who were trapped in the killing grounds on the exact site where I am now standing. Please do leave a like if you enjoyed.