We have alluded to the ancient walls of
York. Few cities can rival it in interest and architectural beauty,
its relics of Roman times, its stately and magnificent cathedral, the
beautiful ruins of St. Mary's Abbey, the numerous churches exhibiting
all the grandeur of the various styles of Gothic architecture, the old
merchants' hall, and the quaint old narrow streets with gabled houses
and widely projecting storeys. And then there is the varied history of
the place dating from far-off Roman times. Not the least interesting
feature of York are its gates and walls. Some parts of the walls are
Roman, that curious thirteen-sided building called the multangular
tower forming part of it, and also the lower part of the wall leading
from this tower to Bootham Bar, the upper part being of later origin.
These walls have witnessed much fighting, and the cannons in the Civil
War during the siege in 1644 battered down some portions of them and
sorely tried their hearts. But they have been kept in good
preservation and repaired at times, and the part on the west of the
Ouse is especially well preserved. You can see some Norman and Early
English work, but the bulk of it belongs to Edwardian times, when York
played a great part in the history of England, and King Edward I made
it his capital during the war with Scotland, and all the great nobles
of England sojourned there.
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