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Micklegate Bar
The name of this four storey high gatehouse is from the Old Norse 'mykla gata' or 'great street', and leads onto Micklegate ('gate' is Norwegian for 'street' remaining from Viking influence in York). It was the traditional ceremonial gate for monarchs entering the city, who, in a tradition dating to Richard II in 1389, touch the state sword when entering the gate.
A 12th-century gatehouse was replaced in the 14th century with a heavy portcullis and barbican. Its symbolic value led to traitors' severed heads being displayed on the defences. Heads left there to rot included: Henry Hotspur Percy (1403), Henry Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham (1415), Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (1461), and Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland (1572).
The building was inhabited until the twentieth century. The upper two floors contain living quarters, which today are a museum known as the Henry VII Experience at Micklegate Bar.
A 12th-century gatehouse was replaced in the 14th century with a heavy portcullis and barbican. Its symbolic value led to traitors' severed heads being displayed on the defences. Heads left there to rot included: Henry Hotspur Percy (1403), Henry Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham (1415), Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (1461), and Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland (1572).
The building was inhabited until the twentieth century. The upper two floors contain living quarters, which today are a museum known as the Henry VII Experience at Micklegate Bar.
by N Chadwick
Created: Thu, 23 Feb 2017, Updated: Thu, 23 Feb 2017
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