£1.5m investment to preserve city’s medieval walls

£1.5m is being invested to preserve and protect York’s medieval city walls, renowned as being the “finest and most complete” walls in England.

Stretching over 3.4 kilometres, they are also the longest historic walls in the country. With five main ‘bars’ (big gateways), one postern (a small gateway), one Victorian gateway and 45 towers, it takes around two hours to walk the entire length of the walls.

City of York Council already invests around £100,000 a year on routine monitoring and inspection, but it says more funding is urgently needed to ensure the 1,900 year old walls can be preserved for years to come.

Approval was given back in February to invest council capital funding into a five-year programme of works.

These works are now set to get underway this spring and will include replacing Monk Bar steps, which have become sunk and twisted, and repair and restoration works at a number of towers.

Cllr David Carr, leader of City of York Council, said: “York’s city walls are the most complete and finest in England, making them one of our most treasured and significant historical assets. This is why it’s so important we continue to invest in preserving and protecting them.

“Over a million people take a walk through 1,900 years of history on the walls every year and we hope through this investment many more visitors will continue to enjoy them.”