Nearest Online Tour Guide page: Exhibition Square

Bootham Bar is the north-western gate to the medieval city of York. It was built on the site of the north-western gate to the Roman fortress of Eboracum and some of its brickwork dates back to the 11th century AD.

Most of the structure actually dates from the 14th century: a Scottish raiding party reached its gates in 1322 while England and Scotland were at war. Contemporary accounts say the Scots “terrorised the suburbs” and urban legend has it that to this day it’s still legal for a York citizen to shoot a Scotsman from the city walls.

An armed mob also tried to storm Bootham Bar in July 1381 when news of the Peasant’s Revolt, led by Wat Tyler in London, reached York.

Back in the middle ages a light would have been lit at the top of Bootham Bar to guide travellers through the Forest of Galtres, which covered much of the area north of the city. The bar lost its barbican in 1835, although its portcullis can still be seen inside the building.

In the 1980s a drawing of the bar featured in York City Football Club’s team badge: back then they beat Arsenal and drew with Liverpool twice. Since then the badge has changed and the club has dropped out of the Football League.

The bar was extended in the 19th century and the stairway giving access to the city walls dates back to this time. The extension was used as a yard for the Minster’s stonemasons: they now operate from a workshop on Deangate and the extension is now a public toilet.

Continue your York tour
Go south-east down High Petergate towards the Minster
Go north-west up Bootham
Cross the road to Exhibition Square and York Art Gallery

Bootham Bar is also our recommended start point for a tour of York’s city walls.