York ( ) is a walled city, situated at the confluence of
the Rivers Ouse
and Foss
in North Yorkshire, England
. The
city has a rich
heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events
throughout much of its two millennia of existence.
The city was founded by the
Romans in
71 AD.
They called it Eboracum
, a name
perhaps derived from one used by the British tribes who inhabited the
area. The Romans made it the capital of their Province of
Britannia Inferior. At the end of
Roman rule in 415 AD the settlement was taken over by the
Angles and the city was renamed
Eoforwic.
It served as the capital of the Anglian
Kingdom of
Northumbria
. When
the
Vikings captured the city in 866 AD
they renamed it
Jórvík and it
became the capital of a wider kingdom of the same name covering
much of
Northern England. After the
Norman conquest, the name
"York", which was first used in the 13th century, gradually
evolved.In the
Middle Ages York grew as
a major wool trading centre and the ecclesiastical capital of the
northern province of England. The
Province of York is still one of the two
Church of England ecclesiastical provinces, alongside
that of
Canterbury.
York's
location on the River Ouse, in the centre of the Vale of York and
half way between the capitals of London
and Edinburgh
means that it has long had a significant position
in the nation's transport system. The 19th century saw
York, under the influence of
George
Hudson, become an important hub of the railway network and a
manufacturing centre. In recent decades, the economy of York has
moved from being dominated by its confectionery and railway-related
industries to one that provides services.
The University of
York
and health services have become major
employers. Tourism also boosts the local economy because
the city offers a wealth of historic attractions, of which York Minster
is the most prominent, and a variety of cultural
activities. York Racecourse
and Kit Kat Crescent
, the home of York City
F.C., are the most prominent sporting venues in the city and
the River Ouse provides opportunities for both sporting and leisure
pursuits.
From 1996, the term City of York describes a
unitary authority area which includes
rural areas beyond the old city boundaries. In 2001 the urban area
had a population of
137,505,
while in 2007 the entire unitary authority had an estimated
population of
193,300.
History
Toponymy
The word 'York' comes from the
Latin name for the city, variously rendered
as
Eboracum,
Eburacum or
Eburaci.
The first
mention of York by this name is dated to c. 95–104 AD as an address on a wooden
stylus tablet from the Roman fortress of
Vindolanda
in Northumberland
.
The
toponymy of Eboracum is uncertain as
the language of the pre-Roman
indigenous population of the area was
never recorded. These people are thought to have spoken a Celtic
language, related to modern Welsh. Therefore, it is thought that
Eboracum is derived from the
Brythonic word
Eborakon
meaning either "place of the
yew
trees" (cf. yew =
efrog in
Welsh,
eabhrac in
Irish Gaelic and
eabhraig in
Scottish Gaelic, by which names the city is
known in those languages) or perhaps "field of Eboras".
The name 'Eboracum' was turned into 'Eoforwic' by the
Anglian in the 7th century. This was probably by
conflation of 'ebor' with a
Germanic root
*eburaz (boar); by
the 7th century the
Old English for
boar had become 'eofor', and Eboracum 'Eoforwic'. The 'wic' simply
signified 'place'. When the
Danish army conquered the city in
866, the name became rendered as '
Jórvík'.
Jórvík was gradually reduced to
York in the centuries
following the
Norman
Conquest, moving from the
Middle
English Yerk to
Yourke in the
14th century through to
Yourke in the
16th century and then
Yarke in the 17th century.
The form
York was first recorded in the 13th century.
Many present day names of companies and places, such as Ebor taxis
and the Ebor race meeting, refer to the Roman name.
Early history
Archaeological evidence suggests that
Mesolithic people settled in the region of York
between 8000 and 7000 BC, although it is not known whether
these settlements were permanent or temporary. By the time of the
Roman conquest of Britain,
the area was occupied by a
tribe known to the
Romans as the
Brigantes. The Brigantian
tribal area initially became a Roman client state but later its
leaders became more hostile to Rome.
As a result the Roman
Ninth Legion was sent north of the
Humber
into Brigantian territory.
The city
itself was founded in 71 AD, when the Ninth Legion conquered
the Brigantes and constructed a wooden military fortress on flat ground above the River
Ouse
close to its confluence
with the River
Foss
. The fortress, which was later rebuilt in
stone, covered an area of and was inhabited by 6,000 soldiers.
The site
of the Roman fortress lies under the foundations of York Minster
, and excavations in the Minster's undercroft have
revealed some of the original walls.
The Emperors
Hadrian,
Septimius Severus and
Constantius I all held court in York during
their various campaigns. During his stay, the Emperor Severus
proclaimed York capital of the province of
Britannia Inferior, and it is likely that
it was he who granted York the privileges of a
colonia or city. Constantius I died in
306 AD during his stay in York, and his son
Constantine the Great was proclaimed Emperor
by the troops based in the fortress.
In the
7th century York became the chief city of the Anglian King
Edwin of Northumbria
. The first
Minster church was built in York for the
baptism of Edwin in 627. Edwin ordered that this small wooden
church should be rebuilt in stone, but he was killed in 633 and the
task of completing the stone Minster fell to his successor
Oswald. In the following century
Alcuin of York came to the cathedral
school of York.
He had a long career as a teacher and
scholar, first at the school at York now known as St Peter's
School, York
, which was founded in 627 AD, and later as
Charlemagne's leading advisor on
ecclesiastical and educational affairs.
In 866, Northumbria was in the midst of internecine struggles when
the
Vikings raided and captured York. Under
Viking rule the city became a major river port, part of the
extensive Viking trading routes throughout northern Europe. The
last ruler of an independent Jórvík,
Eric
Bloodaxe, was driven from the city in the year 954 by King
Edred in his successful attempt to
complete the unification of England.
Post conquest
In 1068, two years after the
Norman Conquest of England, the
people of York rebelled. At first the rebellion was successful but
then
William the Conqueror
arrived and put down the rebellion. He at once built two wooden
fortresses on
mottes, which are
still visible, on either side of the river Ouse. York was ravaged
by him as part of the
harrying of
the North.
The first stone Minster church was badly damaged by fire in the
uprising and the Normans later decided to build a new Minster on a
new site. Around the year 1080
Archbishop Thomas started building a
cathedral that in time became the current Minster.In the
12th century York started to prosper because of its position
at the hub of an excellent communications network. It became a
major trading centre and
Hanseatic
port.
York merchants imported cloth, wax, canvas,
and oats from the Low Countries, and
exported grain to Gascony
and grain and wool to the Low
Countries.King Henry I
granted the city's first
charter, confirming
trading rights in England and Europe.
In 1190, York was the site of an infamous
pogrom of its
Jewish inhabitants.
The Jews
sought sanctuary in Clifford's Tower
, the fortification within the city belonging to the
Crown. The mob besieged the trapped Jews for some days while
preparations were made to storm the castle. Eventually a fire was
started, whether by the Jews or their persecutors is uncertain, and
150 Jews lost their lives.
Tudor and Stuart times
The city underwent a period of decline during
Tudor times. Under
Henry VIII, the
Dissolution of the
Monasteries saw the end of the many
monastic houses of York, along with their
hospitals. This led to the
Pilgrimage of Grace, an uprising of
northern Catholics in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire who were opposed
to religious reform. Henry VIII eventually reinstated the
Council of the North in York, and this
increased in importance under
Elizabeth I, leading to a revival in
the city's influence.
Guy Fawkes who was
born and educated in York was a member of a group of
Roman Catholic restorationists that planned
the
Gunpowder Plot.
Its aim was to
displace Protestant rule by blowing up
the Houses of
Parliament
while King James
I and the entire Protestant and even most of the Catholic
aristocracy and nobility were inside.
In 1644,
during the Civil War, the Parliamentarians besieged York
, and many medieval houses outside the city walls
were lost. The
barbican at Walmgate
Bar was undermined and explosives laid but the plot was discovered.
On the arrival of
Prince Rupert, with
an army of 15,000 men, the siege was lifted.
The Parliamentarians
retreated some from York with Rupert in pursuit, before turning on
his army and soundly defeating it at the Battle of
Marston Moor
. Of Rupert's 15,000 troops, no fewer
than 4,000 were killed and 1,500 captured. The siege was renewed,
but the city could not hold out for long, and on 15 July the city
surrendered to
Sir Thomas
Fairfax.
Following the
restoration of the
monarchy in 1660, and the removal of the garrison from York in
1688, the city was dominated by the local gentry and merchants,
although the clergy were still important.
Competition from the
nearby cities of Leeds
and Hull
, together with silting of the River Ouse, resulted
in York losing its pre-eminent position as a trading centre, but
the city's role as the social and cultural centre for wealthy
northerners was on the rise. York's many elegant townhouses, such as the Lord Mayor's Mansion House
and Fairfax House (now owned by York Civic Trust) date from this
period, as do the Assembly Rooms
, the Theatre
Royal, and the Racecourse
.
Modern history

The minster and war memorial seen from
the Station Road walls
George Hudson was responsible for
bringing the railway to York in 1839. Although Hudson's career as a
railway entrepreneur eventually ended in disgrace, by this time,
York was a major railway centre. At the turn of the
20th century, the railway accommodated the headquarters and
works of the
North Eastern
Railway, which employed over 5,500 people in York. The railway
was also instrumental in the expansion of
Rowntree's Cocoa Works. Rowntree's was founded in
York in 1862 by Henry Isaac Rowntree, who was joined in 1869 by his
brother the
philanthropist Joseph Rowntree.
Terry's Confectionery Works was also a major
employer in the city.
With the emergence of
tourism as a major
industry, the historic core of York became one of the city's major
assets, and in 1968 it was designated a
conservation area.
The existing tourist
attractions were supplemented by the establishment of the National
Railway Museum
in York in 1975. The opening of the
University of
York
in 1963 added to the prosperity of the city.
The fast and frequent railway service, which brings York within two
hours journey time of London, has resulted in a number of companies
opening offices in the city.
York was voted as European Tourism City of the Year by European
Cities Marketing in June 2007.
York beat 130 other European cities to gain
first place, surpassing Gothenburg
in Sweden (second) and Valencia
in Spain (third).
Governance
Parliamentary constituencies
Most of
York is covered by the City of York
constituency of the Parliament
of the United Kingdom
, though the outer parts of the city and local
authority area fall within the Selby
, Vale of
York
and Ryedale
constituencies. These constituencies are
represented by
Hugh Bayley,
John Grogan,
Anne McIntosh and
John Greenway, respectively. Following their
review in 2002 of parliamentary representation in
North Yorkshire, the
Boundary Commission for
England has recommended the creation of two new seats for the
City of York at the
next general
election.
Both
existing City of York and Vale of
York
seats will be abolished and replaced by two new
constituencies, namely, York
Central
and York
Outer
. The Selby and Ryedale seats will no longer
contain any York wards.
The whole of the city and local authority
area lies within the Yorkshire
and the Humber constituency of the European
Parliament
.
Local government
York is
the traditional county town of Yorkshire
, yet it did not form part of any of the three
historic ridings, or divisions, of
Yorkshire. York is an ancient
borough, and was one of the boroughs reformed by the
Municipal Corporations
Act 1835 to form a
municipal
borough. It gained the status of a
county borough in 1889, under the
Local Government Act 1888, and
existed so until 1974, when, under the
Local Government Act 1972, it
became a
non-metropolitan
district in the county of
North
Yorkshire.
As a
result of 1990s UK
local government reform, York regained unitary status and saw a
substantial alteration in its borders, taking in parts of Selby
and Harrogate
districts, and about half the population of the
Ryedale
district. The new boundary was imposed after
central government rejected the council's own proposal.
The City of York Council has 47 councillors. As a result of the
2007 local
elections (and a
by-election in
September 2007), no party has an
absolute majority, resulting in
no overall control of the authority. The
Liberal Democrats have 20
councillors and in May 2007 they formed a
minority administration with an
executive of 9 councillors. The
Labour
Party formed the Opposition with 18 councillors. The
Conservative Party has seven
councillors and the
Greens have two.
, York’s Lord Mayor is Councillor John Galvin, and Mrs. Jill Burnett is York’s Sheriff. Both appointments are made each May for a period of one year. Although York’s Sheriff office is the oldest in England it is now a purely ceremonial post. The Lord Mayor also carries out civic and ceremonial duties in addition to chairing full meetings of the council.
Geography
Location
York lies
within the Vale of York, a flat area of
fertile arable land bordered by the Pennines, the North York Moors
and the Yorkshire Wolds
The original city was built at the confluence of
the Rivers Ouse
and Foss
on a
terminal moraine left by the last Ice Age.
During Roman times, the land surrounding the rivers Ouse and Foss
was very marshy, making the site easier to defend. The city is
prone to
flooding from the River Ouse, and has
an extensive (and mostly effective) network of flood defences.
These
include walls along the Ouse, and a liftable barrier across the
River
Foss
where it joins the Ouse at the 'Blue
Bridge'. In October and November 2000 York experienced the
worst flooding in 375 years with over 300 homes being flooded. Much
land in and around the city is on flood plains and has always been
too flood-prone for development other than agriculture. The
ings are flood meadows along the River Ouse, while the
strays are open common
grassland in various locations around the city.
Climate
York has a
temperate climate with four
distinct
seasons. As with the rest of the
Vale of York the city's climate is
dryer and warmer than the rest of the
Yorkshire and Humberside region.
Because of its lowland location York is prone to frosts, fog, and
cold winds during winter, spring and very early summer. In summer
the average maximum temperature is 22
°C (72
°F) although some
days can see highs of up to 28 °C (82 °F) rarely
exceeding 30°C (86°F). Nights are significantly colder averaging
minimum of 15 °C (60 °F), although these can consistently
dip below 10 °C (50 °F). The average daytime temperature
in winter is 7 °C (45 °F) and 2 °C (36 °F) at
night. Snow can fall in winter from December onwards to as late as
April but quickly melts. The wettest months are November, December
and January with an average of 17 days per month with rainfall more
than . From May to July York experiences the most sunshine with an
average of six hours per day.Extremes recorded at the University of
York campus between 1998 and 2006, include a highest temperature of
33 °C (91.4 °F) and a lowest temperature of -6.9 °C
(19.5 °F). The most rainfall in one day was .
Demography
York Compared in 2006/7 |
2006/7 UK Population Estimates |
York |
Yorkshire and the Humber |
England |
Total population |
193,300 |
5,177,200 |
51,092,000 |
White |
95.0% |
91.1% |
88.7% |
Asian |
1.9% |
5.5% |
5.5% |
Black |
0.6% |
1.2% |
2.8% |
The York urban area had a population of
137,505
comprising 66,142 males and 71,363 females in 2001.
Also at the time of
the 2001 UK census, the
City of
York
had a total population of 181,094 of whom 93,957
were female and 87,137 were male. Of the 76,920 households
in York, 36.0% were married couples living together, 31.3% were
one-person households, 8.7% were
co-habiting couples and 8.0% were lone parents.
The figures for lone parent households were below the national
average of 9.5%, and the percentage of married couples was also
close to the national average of 36.5%; the proportion of one
person households was slightly higher than the national average of
30.1%.
The population density was . Of those aged 16–74 in York, 24.6% had
no
academic
qualifications, a little lower than 28.9% in all of England. Of
York’s residents, 5.1% were born outside the United Kingdom,
significantly lower than the national average of 9.2%. The largest
minority group was recorded as Asian, at 1.9% of the
population.
The number of theft-from-a-vehicle offences and theft of a vehicle
per 1,000 of the population was 8.8 and 2.7 compared to the English
national average of 6.9 and 2.7 respectively. The number of sexual
offences was 0.9, in line with the national average. The national
average of violence against another person was 16.2 compared to the
York average of 16.8. The figures for crime statistics were all
recorded during the 2006–07 financial year.
Population change
The table below details the population change since 1801.
Population growth in York since 1801 |
Year |
1801 |
1811 |
1821 |
1831 |
1841 |
1851 |
1861 |
1871 |
1881 |
1891 |
1901 |
1911 |
1921 |
1931 |
1941 |
1951 |
1961 |
1971 |
1981 |
1991 |
2001 |
Population |
24,080 |
27,486 |
30,913 |
36,340 |
40,337 |
49,899 |
58,632 |
67,364 |
76,097 |
81,802 |
90,665 |
100,487 |
106,278 |
112,402 |
123,227 |
135,093 |
144,585 |
154,749 |
158,170 |
172,847 |
181,131 |
|
Source: Vision of Britain |
Religion
Religion in York 2001 |
UK Census 2001 |
York |
Yorkshire |
England |
Christian |
74.42% |
73.07% |
71.74% |
No religion |
16.57% |
14.09% |
14.59% |
Muslim |
0.58% |
3.81% |
3.1% |
Buddhist |
0.21% |
0.14% |
0.28% |
Hindu |
0.19% |
0.32% |
1.11% |
Jewish |
0.11% |
0.23% |
0.52% |
Sikh |
0.05% |
0.38% |
0.67% |
Other religions |
0.30% |
0.19% |
0.29% |
Religion not stated |
7.57% |
7.77% |
7.69% |
At the time of the
2001 UK
census the population of York was 181,094 and its ethnic
composition was 97.84% white, compared with the English average of
90.92%. York's population has a slightly higher elderly population
than the national average.
Christianity
is the religion with the largest following in York with 74.4%
residents reporting themselves as Christian in the 2001 census.
These census figures show no other single religion returned
affiliation, as a percentage of population, above the national
average for England.
There are
32 active Anglican churches in York which is home to the Archbishop of York and the Mother Church, York Minster
, and administrative centre of the Diocese of
York
.York is in the Roman Catholic Diocese
of Middlesbrough
, has eight Roman Catholic churches and a number of
different Catholic religious orders.
Other Christian denominations that are active in York include
Religious Society of
Friends who have a number of
meeting houses in York,
Methodists with the York North and York South
circuits of The Methodist Church York and Hull District, and
Unitarians. There is one
mosque in York which also contains a
UK Islamic Mission Islamic centre.
Various
Buddhist traditions are represented
in the city and around York.
Economy

Offices of Aviva in York
York's economy is based on the
service
industry, which in 2000 was responsible for 88.7% of employment
in the city. The service industries in York include public sector
employment, health, education, finance,
information technology (IT) and
tourism that accounts for 10.7% of
employment.
Unemployment in York is low
at 4.2% in 2008 compared to the United Kingdom national average of
5.3%. The biggest employer in York is the City of York Council,
with over 7,500 employees.
Employers with more than 3,000 staff include
Aviva (formerly Norwich Union Life), Selby and
York Primary Care Trust, Shepherd Building Group (including
Portakabin), and University of
York
. Other major employers include
British Telecom, CPP Group Ltd (Card
Protection Plan),
Nestlé and a number of
railway companies.
This is very different from the position of the economy as recently
as the 1950s, when York's prosperity was based on chocolate
manufacturing and the railways. This position continued until the
early 1980s when 30% of the workforce were employed by just five
employers and 75% of manufacturing jobs were in four companies.
Most of the industry around the railway has gone, including the
carriage works (known as
Asea Brown Boveri
or ABB at the time of closure) which at its height in 1880s
employed 5,500 people but closed in the mid 1990s. York is the
headquarters of the confectionery manufacturer Nestlé York
(formerly Nestlé Rowntrees), and home to the
KitKat and eponymous
Yorkie bar chocolate brands.
Terry's chocolate factory, makers of the
Chocolate Orange,
was also located in the city; but it closed on 30 September 2005,
when production was moved by its owners,
Kraft Foods, to Poland. However, the historic
factory building can still be seen, situated next to the Knavesmire
racecourse.
It was announced on 20 September 2006 that Nestlé would be cutting
645 jobs at the Rowntree's chocolate factory in York. This came
after a number of other job losses in the city at
Aviva,
British Sugar and
Terry's chocolate factory. Despite this, the employment situation
in York remained fairly buoyant until the effects of the
late 2000s recession began to be
felt.
Since the closure of York's carriage-works, the site has been
developed into the headquarters for
CPP
Group UK,
Virgin Galactic and
two housing schemes, one of which was a
self-build project. York's economy has been
developing in the areas of
science,
technology and the
creative industries.
The city has become a
founding National Science City with the creation of a science park near the University of
York
. Between 1998 and 2008 York gained 80 new
technology companies and 2,800 new jobs in the sector.
Regional
gross value added figures
for York, at 2005 basic prices in
pounds
sterling, are:
Year |
Agriculture |
Industry |
Services |
Total |
1995 |
30 |
579 |
1,443 |
2,052 |
2000 |
13 |
782 |
2,168 |
2,963 |
2003 |
16 |
779 |
2,505 |
3,299 |
Transport

Boats on the River Ouse
York's location on the River Ouse and in the centre of the Vale of
York means that it has always had a significant position in the
nation's transport system.
The city grew up as a river port at the
confluence of the River Ouse
and the River Foss
. The Ouse was originally a
tidal river, accessible to sea-going ships of
the time. Today both of these rivers remain navigable, although the
Foss is only navigable for a short distance above the confluence.
A
lock at Naburn
on the Ouse
to the south of York means that the river in York is no longer
tidal.
Until the
end of the 20th century, the Ouse was used by barges to carry freight between York and the port of
Hull
. The last significant traffic was the supply
of
newsprint to the local newspaper's
Foss-side print works, which continued until 1997. Today navigation
is almost exclusively leisure-oriented.
YorkBoat provides cruises on the river.

Stonegate is pedestrianised during the
day
Like most cities founded by the Romans, York is well served by long
distance trunk roads.
The city lies at the intersection of the
A19 road from Doncaster
to Tyneside
, the A59 road from Liverpool
to York, the A64 road from
Leeds
to Scarborough
, and the A1079 road from
York to Hull
. The A64 road provides the principal link to
the motorway network, linking York to both
the A1
and the M1 motorways at
a distance of about from the city.
The city is surrounded on all sides by an outer ring road, at a
distance of some from the centre of the city, which allows through
traffic to by-pass the city. The street plan of the historic core
of the city dates from medieval times and is not suitable for
modern traffic. As a consequence many of the routes inside the city
walls are designated as
car free
during business hours or restrict traffic entirely. To alleviate
this situation, five bus based
park
and ride sites operate in York. The sites are located towards
the edge of the urban area, with easy access from the ring road,
and allow out of town visitors to complete their journey into the
city centre by bus.

York railway station and Royal York
Hotel
York has been a major railway centre since the first line arrived
in 1839 at the beginning of the railway age. For many years the
city hosted the headquarters and works of the
North Eastern Railway.
York railway
station
is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line from London to
Newcastle
and Edinburgh
. It takes less than two hours to get to York
from London by rail, with at least 25 direct trains each weekday.
The
station is also served by long distance trains on Cross Country services linking
Edinburgh and Newcastle with destinations in south and west England
via Birmingham
. TransPennine Express provide a
frequent service of semi-fast trains linking York to Newcastle,
Scarborough
, Leeds
, Manchester
, Manchester Airport
, and Liverpool
. Local stopping services by Northern Rail connect York to Bridlington
, Harrogate
, Hull
, Leeds, Sheffield
and many intermediate points, as well as many other
stations across Greater Manchester and Lancashire.
York has
an airfield at the former RAF Elvington
, some south-east of the city centre, which is the
home of the Yorkshire
Air Museum
. Elvington is used for
private aviation. Plans have been drafted
to expand the site for business aviation or a full commercial
service.
York is
linked to Manchester
Airport
by an hourly direct TransPennine Express train,
giving access to the principal airport serving the north of
England, with connections to many destinations in Europe, North
America, Africa, and Asia. Leeds Bradford Airport
is closer to York but the hourly York Air
Coach service operated by First York
was withdrawn as of April 2009. Leeds Bradford
Airport provides connections to most major European and North
African airports as well as Pakistan
and New
York
.

A York 'ftr' bus
Public transport within the city is largely
bus
based. The principal bus operator is
First
York, a part of
FirstGroup plc.
First York operates the majority of the city's local bus services,
as well as the
York park and ride
services. York is the location of the first implementation of
FirstGroup's experimental, and controversial,
ftr bus concept, which seeks to confer the
advantages of a modern
tramway system at a
lower cost.
Transdev York also operate
a number of local bus services. Open top tourist and sightseeing
buses are operated by
Transdev York on
behalf of
City Sightseeing.
Rural services, linking local towns and villages with York, are
provided by a number of companies.Longer distance bus services are
provided by a number of operators including,
Arriva Yorkshire services to Selby,
East Yorkshire Motor
Serviceson routes to Hull, Beverley, Pocklington,
Harrogate & District
services to Knaresborough
and Harrogate
. Yorkshire
Coastliner links Leeds
via York
with Scarborough, Filey
, Bridlington
and Whitby
.
Local Transport Plan 2006
English local authorities are required to produce Local Transport
Plans (LTPs), strategies for developing local integrated transport
as part of a longer-term vision. LTPs are used by central
government to allocate funding for transport schemes.The final
Local Transport Plan 2006–2011 for York was submitted to central
government in March 2006. The plan addresses the fact that traffic
in York is predicted to grow considerably over the coming years.
The key aims of the plan are to ease congestion and improve
accessibility, air quality and safety. Major funding allocations
earmarked for the first five years of the plan's life span include
outer ring road improvements, improved management of the highway
network, improvements to the bus network including park and ride
services, provision of off-road walking and cycling routes, air
quality improvements and safety measures.
Education

University of York, view across the
lake to Central Hall
The
University of
York
's main campus is on the southern edge of the city
at Heslington
, while the Archaeology and Medieval Studies
department is located in the King's Manor in the city
centre. It was York's only institution with
university status until 2006, when the more centrally located
York St John University,
formerly an autonomous college of the University
of Leeds
, attained full university status as 'York St John
University'. The city also hosts a branch of The College
of Law
. The University of York also has a highly
rated medical school,
Hull York
Medical School.
The city has two major further education institutions.
York
College
is an amalgamation of York Technical College
and York Sixth Form College. Students there study a very
wide range of academic and vocational courses, and range from
school leavers and
sixth formers to people training to make career
moves.
Askham Bryan College
offers further education courses, foundation and
honours degrees, specialising in more vocational subjects such as
horticulture, agriculture, animal management and even golf course management.
There are 70
local
authority schools with over 24,000 pupils in the City of York
Council area. The City of York Council manage most primary and
secondary schools within the city.
Primary schools cover education from ages
5–11, with some offering early years education from age 3. From
11–16 education is provided by 10
secondary schools, four of which offer
additional education up to the age of 18.
In 2007 Oaklands
Sports College and Lowfield Comprehensive School merged to become
one school known as York High School
.
The seventeen boarding schools in York are represented by the
York Boarding Schools
Group. York also has several private schools.
St Peter's
School
was founded in 627 and the
scholar Alcuin, who went on to serve
Charlemagne, taught here. It was also the school attended by
Guy Fawkes.
Two schools have
Quaker origins: Bootham School
is co-educational and
The Mount
School
is all-girls. On the outskirts of
the city is Queen Margaret's School
. Pupils from The
Minster School, York sing in York
Minster choir.
Public services
Under the requirements of the
Municipal Corporations Act
1835, York City Council had to appoint a watch committee which
established a police force and appointed a chief constable. On 1
June 1968 the York City, East Riding of Yorkshire and North Riding
of Yorkshire police forces were amalgamated to form the
York and North East
Yorkshire Police. Since 1974,
Home
Office policing in York has been provided by the
North Yorkshire Police.
The force's "Central
Area" has its headquarters for policing York and nearby Selby
in Fulford, York.Statutory emergency fire and
rescue service is provided by the North Yorkshire Fire and
Rescue Service, whose headquarters is at Northallerton
.

York Crown Court
York Hospital, which opened in 1976, gained
Foundation status in April 2007. It has
524 adult inpatient beds and 127 special purpose beds providing
general healthcare and some specialist inpatient, daycase and
outpatient services. It is also known as, York District Hospital
and YDH.
The
Yorkshire Ambulance
Service NHS Trust was formed on 1 July 2006 bringing together
South Yorkshire Ambulance Service, West Yorkshire Metropolitan
Ambulance Service and the North and East Yorkshire parts of Tees,
East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service to provide patient
transport. Other forms of
health care
are provided for locally by several small clinics and
surgeries.
Since 1998
waste management has
been co-ordinated via the York and North Yorkshire Waste
Partnership. York's
Distribution Network Operator
for electricity is
CE Electric UK;
there are no
power stations in the
city.
Yorkshire Water, which has a
local water extraction plant on the
River Derwent at Elvington, manages
York's
drinking and
waste water.The city has its own
Magistrates' Court, and more unusually a
Crown Court and
County Court too. The Crown Court was designed
by the architect
John Carr,
next to the then prison (including execution area).
The former prison is
now the Castle
Museum
but still contains the cells.
Culture
Sites of interest
York Minster
, the second largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe, stands at the city's
centre.York's centre is enclosed by
the city's medieval walls, which are a
popular walk. The entire circuit is about , including a part where
walls never existed, because the Norman
moat of
York Castle, formed by damming the River Foss, also created a lake
which acted as a city defence. This lake was later called the
King's Fishpond, as the rights to fish belonged to the Crown.
Clifford's Tower
, a stone quatrefoil
keep built on top of a Norman motte, was the site of a massacre in 1190
when the small Jewish community of York sought
protection in the tower on the feast of Shabbat ha-Gadol.
Many Jews took their own lives rather than face a violent mob in an
event regarded as one of the most notorious examples of
antisemitism in medieval England.
feature of central York is the
Snickelways
, narrow pedestrian routes, many of which led
towards the former market-places in Pavement and Sampson Square.
The
Shambles
is a narrow medieval
street, lined with shops, boutiques and tea
rooms. Most of these premises were once butchers' shops,
and the hooks from which carcasses were hung and the shelves on
which meat was laid out can still be seen outside some of them. The
street also contains the Shrine of
Margaret Clitherow, although it is not
located in the house where she lived. Goodramgate has many medieval
houses including the 14th century Lady's Row built to finance
a
Chantry, at the edge of the churchyard of
Holy Trinity church.
The city
has many museums, including the Castle Museum
, Yorkshire
Museum
and Museum Gardens
, JORVIK Viking Centre
, the York Art Gallery
, Richard III Museum
, the Merchant Adventurers' Hall
, the medieval house Barley Hall owned by the
York Archaeological Trust, Fairfax House owned by the York Civic Trust and the Treasurer's
House
owned by the
National Trust. The National Railway Museum
is situated just beyond the station, and is home to
a vast range of transport material and the largest collection of
railway locomotives in the world. Included in this
collection are the world's fastest steam locomotive
LNER 4468 Mallard and the world famous
4472 Flying
Scotsman, which is being overhauled in the Museum.
York is noted for its numerous churches and pubs. Most of the
remaining churches in York are from the medieval period.
St William's College behind the
Minster, and Bedern
Hall
, off Goodramgate, are
former dwelling places of the canons
of the Minster.
Theatre
The
Theatre
Royal
, which was established in 1744, produces an annual
pantomime which attracts loyal audiences from around the region to
see its veteran star, Berwick
Kaler. The Grand Opera House
and Joseph
Rowntree Theatre also offer a variety of productions.
The city also has many amateur companies, and is home to the
Riding Lights Theatre
Company and
The Strolling
Theatricals. The Department of Theatre, Film and Television,
and Student Societies of the University of York put on public drama
performances.
Music
York has a fine musical heritage and modern day York has a rich
tapestry of live music performances all year round.
Among many music
groups performing regularly in York are the Academy of St Olave's, a chamber orchestra who give concerts in the
beautiful setting of St Olave's Church, Marygate
. A former church, St Margaret's,
Walmgate, is now the National Centre for Early
Music
, whch hosts concerts, broadcasts, competitions and
events through the year, especially during the York Early Music Festival.
The York Waits are an expert reconstruction of the medieval city
group of players. Students, staff and visiting artists of
York St John University music
department regularly perform the well known lunchtime concerts in
the University chapel, alongside special performances such as the
annual Christmas concert.
The staff and students of the University of
York
also perform in the city and particularly in the
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall on the Heslington campus.
Gastronomy

Bettys Café Tea Rooms
In September York has an annual Festival of Food and Drink, which
has been held in the city since 1997. The aim of the festival is to
spotlight food culture in York and North Yorkshire by promoting
local food production.The Festival generates up to 150,000 visitors
over 10 days, from all over the country. One of the notable local
products is York ham, a type of boiled ham, which is a
mild-flavoured
ham that has delicate pink meat
and does not need further cooking before eating. It is
traditionally served with
Madeira
Sauce. It is a lightly smoked, dry-cured ham, which is saltier
but milder in flavour than other European dry-cured hams. Folklore
has it that the oak construction for York Minster provided the
sawdust for smoking the ham. Robert Burrow Atkinson's
butchery shop, in Blossom Street, is the birthplace
of the original “York Ham” and the reason why the premises became
famous.
In the centre of York, in St Helen’s Square, there is the York
branch of
Bettys
Café Tea Rooms.
Bettys founder, Frederick Belmont, travelled
on the maiden voyage of the Queen Mary
in 1936. He was so impressed by the
splendour of the ship that he employed the Queen Marys’ designers
and craftsmen to turn a dilapidated furniture store in York into an
elegant café in St Helen’s Square. A few years after Bettys opened
in York war broke out, and the basement ‘Bettys Bar’, became a
favourite haunt of the thousands of airmen stationed around York.
‘Bettys Mirror’, on which many of them engraved their signatures
with a diamond pen, remains on display today as a tribute to
them.
Media
The York area is served by a local newspaper,
The Press (known as the
Evening
Press until April 2006) and two local radio stations
Minster FM and
BBC
Radio York. It is also served by
York@54, a local
free-to-air television station.
York St John University has
a Film and Television Production department with links to many
major industrial partners. The department hosts an annual festival
of student work and a showcase of other regional films.
The
University of
York
has its own television station York Student
Television
(YSTV) and two campus newspapers Nouse and York
Vision. Its radio station
URY is the longest running legal
independent radio station in the UK, and was voted
BBC Radio 1 Student Radio Station of the Year
2005.
Sports
The city's
football team is
York City, currently playing in the
Football Conference. York have
played as high as the
old Second Division but are
best known for their "giant killing" status in cup competitions,
having reached the
FA Cup semi-final in 1955
and beaten
Manchester United
3–0 during the 1995–96
League
Cup.
Their matches are played at KitKat
Crescent
.
York also has a strong
rugby league
history.
York F.C., later known as York Wasps, formed in 1901, were one of
the oldest rugby league clubs in the country but the effects of a
move to the out of town Huntington Stadium
, poor results and falling attendances led to their
bankruptcy in 2002. The supporters formed a new club,
York City Knights, who now play at
the same stadium in
National League
Two.
There are three amateur rugby league teams
in York, New
Earswick
All
Blacks, York Acorn and Heworth. York International 9s is a
rugby league nines tournament which takes
place in York each year.An open rowing club
York City Rowing Club is located
underneath Lendal Bridge.
York
Racecourse
was
established in 1731 and from 1990 has been awarded Northern
Racecourse of the Year for 17 years running. This major horseracing venue is located on the Knavesmire
and sees thousands flocking to the city every year
for the 15 race meetings. The Knavesmire Racecourse also
hosted
Royal Ascot in 2005. In August
racing takes place over the three day
Ebor
Festival that includes the Ebor Handicap dating from
1843.
Motorbike speedway once took place at York. The track in the
Burnholme Estate was completed in 1930 and a demonstration event
staged. In 1931 the track staged team and open events and the York
team took part in the National Trophy.
The most
notable sportsmen to come from York in recent years are footballer
Marco Gabbiadini and former
England manager
Steve McClaren, who both attended
Nunthorpe Grammar School (now called Millthorpe School
).
Twin cities
York is twinned with:
See also
Notes
- There was no census in 1941: figures are from National
Register. United Kingdom and Isle of Man. Statistics of Population
on 29 September 1939 by Sex, Age and Marital Condition.
- There is a discrepancy of 37 between Office of National
Statistics figures (quoted before) and those on the Vision of
Britain website (quoted here).
References
External links
- Photos and images
- Historical and genealogical sources