Micklegate Bar

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Micklegate Bar, York

Micklegate Bar

Where is it – England, Yorkshire and the Humber

Who looks after it –  Local Authority 

What is it –  Castle or Fort, Free access 

When is it from – Medieval

Micklegate Bar was the most important of York’s four main medieval gateways and the focus for grand events. The name comes from ‘Micklelith’, derived from Danish and meaning great street. This was the main southern gate to the city. The lower section dates from the 12th century, the top two storeys from the 14th. The building used to be inhabited and, like other great gates, once had a huge barbican built on the front – which in this case was demolished in 1826. For centuries the severed heads of rebels and traitors were displayed above the gate. Among the most famous are Sir Henry Percy (Hotspur) in 1403 and in 1460, after the Battle of Wakefield, those of Richard, Duke of York, his 17-year old son Edmund, Earl of Rutland, and Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury. The last of the severed heads was removed in 1754.

 


Address
Micklegate, York YO1 6JX, UK 

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