York Historic Environment Record

Includes: Fishergate Postern Tower PICCADILLY. Includes: The Red Tower FOSS ISLANDS ROAD. Includes: Fishergate Bar PARAGON STREET. Includes: Walmgate Bar WALMGATE. Defensive walls, gates, gatehouses and towers between The Red Tower and Fishergate Postern Tower, including 5 intermediate towers in addition to the 3 main towers. Walls mid C14, restored 1857-58, 1864 and later. The Red Tower built c1490, heavily restored and re-roofed 1857-8, restored 1958. Walmgate Bar and barbican C14 incorporating mid C12 gate, house added c1585, repaired 1645-48, restorations 1840 and later. Fishergate Bar incorporating earlier gate c1440, blocked 1489-1827, restored 1961. Fishergate Postern c1440, Tower c1505, re-roofed C17, restored 1838 and 1960. All structures except The Red Tower of magnesian limestone ashlar; The Red Tower of red-brown brick in random bond with limestone dressings. House on Walmgate Bar timber-framed with plastered infill: Bar has lead roof. The Red Tower and Fishergate Postern Tower have hipped roofs of tile with gablets and overhanging eaves.
EXTERIOR: walls carried on foundation arches, embedded in rampart, and stepped with the slope, has chamfered plinth where visible; short buttresses have offsets. Parapet is plain or crenellated with sloped copings, and pierced with musket loops or arrow slits, some canopied. On inner side, stone paved walkway edged with moulded coping, carried on segmental arches in places. Towers are rectangular with chamfered plinths; some have cruciform arrow slits with oillets; all are crenellated, one with merlons pierced with canopied arrow slits. Inner side of tower at south angle has doorway with chamfer-stopped jambs and segment-arched lintel.
The Red Tower: 2 storeys and attic. Entrance on inner side is quoined and chamfered doorway with 4-centred head. Generally ground floor openings are plain slits with ashlar sills and lintels; first floor openings either segment-headed of brick blocked by board shutters or cruciform slits with oillets cut from ashlar blocks. One side has dummy garderobe projecting on corbels. Attic windows are gabled dormers closed with board
shutters.
Walmgate Bar: 3-storey gate and gatehouse with 1-storey barbican. Barbican has moulded plinth, weathered angle buttresses, moulded corbel course to embattled parapet and corbelled-out bartizans. Archway is chamfered and 2-centred with moulded imposts. Parapet has central painted and carved City of York arms in moulded and pedimented surround, over defaced datestone originally dated AD.1684. Returns have embattled parapets over hollow chamfered corbel courses. Gatehouse front within barbican has chamfered round arch with inscribed slate panel recording 1840 restoration above. Upper storey between embattled bartizans joined by plain parapet has reset painted and carved Royal Arms in moulded surround flanked by 1-light windows. Square-headed doorways open to barbican walkways. Moulded strings beneath upper storey and parapet. Gatehouse front to Walmgate: chamfered round arch on imposts closed by massive wooden gates with wicket. Upper storeys obscured by extension raised on Doric columns on tall pedestals, carrying entablature with moulded cornice. First and second floors flanked by tiered columns, Doric on first floor with triglyph frieze blocks and moulded cornice, Ionic on second floor beneath entablature with enriched cornice. First floor window of 6 mullioned and transomed lights with triglyph keyblock on first floor, on second floor similar 5-light window. Balustraded parapet with turned balusters and square newels surmounted by obelisk finials. Access to gatehouse through shouldered doorway on first floor of right return.
Fishergate Bar: 1-storey gateway. Truncated wall finished with plain parapet with sloped coping has round carriage arch of 2 chamfered orders with portcullis slot: on each side are weathered block buttresses pierced by foot passages with corbelled lintels. Parapet incorporates through datestone recording construction of 60 yards of the city wall in 1487 by Lord Mayor Sir William Todd, carved with the City of York arms.
Fishergate Postern and Tower: 4-storey tower with postern attached. Postern is pointed arch of 4 chamfered orders incorporating portcullis slot. Tower, originally embattled, part on moulded plinth, has clasping buttresses at two angles, one incorporating projecting garderobe on first floor. Doorway on inner side is chamfered with 4-centred head and C20 nail-studded door. Windows are slits in chamfered openings or of 2 segment-arched lights in square-headed surround. Original embrasures converted to unglazed windows by roof construction. (An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of York: The Defences: HMSO: 1972-: 139-157).
Listing NGR: SE6069451256

Derived from English Heritage LB download dated: 22/08/2005

City of York Council, 1991, 1991 City Walls Structural Survey (Unpublished document). SYO2265.

YAT, 1992, York City Walls Walmgate/Fishergate chainage 3100-3200 Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SYO941.

YAT, 1996, City Walls Chainage 2919 - 3247 (Unpublished document). SYO946.

YAT, 2002, York City Walls, Chainage 3350 Fishergate Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SYO424.

PLB, 2004, York City Walls Conservation Management Plan (Unpublished document). SYO1733.

PLB, 2004, York City Walls Interpretation and Access (Unpublished document). SYO1734.

Donald Insall Associates, 2021, York City Walls Conservation Management Plan (Unpublished document). SYO2629.