A Brief History of York

The year is AD71 and the Roman Ninth Legion is sent north to subdue the Celtic tribes known as the Brigantes. They set up camp at the junction of the Rivers Ouse and Foss. They call it Eboracum, “the place of yew trees”.

After the Brigantes are conquered, the camp becomes a permanent fortress. Eventually a civilian town springs up around it, and Eboracum becomes the most important military base in the north.

But the Roman occupation of Britannia is not to last forever. In 400AD, a little over 300 years after they arrived, the Roman Legions march from Britannia forever, leaving behind empty stone buildings and a country no longer able to defend itself.

In the 5th century Germanic tribes invaded, taking Eboracum and renaming it Eoforwic, meaning “wild boar settlement”. Personally, I think the yew thing was a nicer naming. But nobody asked me.

By the 8th century Eoforwic dominated the north of Britain. And then the Vikings came.

Ivar the Boneless and his hordes of Danish Vikings overran Eoforwic on 1st November 866. The Vikings had big plans. They were tired of raping and pillaging, sacking and burning, and wanted to settle down to the peaceful life of farmers. So, they renamed Eoforwic to Jorvik (Boar Estuary – not getting any better with the name thing here) and settled down to grow rutabagas and trade wool and whatnot. Jorvik became a major river port and the Vikings gussied it up laying out new streets and expanding the city walls.

Over the years there were uprisings, rebellions and Norwegian invasions. Eventually the Normans invaded and in 1069AD took over the town renaming it York. One might think they’d finally gotten the name right. Unfortunately, York means boar. They should have stuck with Eboracum.

Over the next 300 years, York became the second largest city in all of England. It was the capital of the North and hugely prosperous, but it all came falling down. The population began a decline, the wool trade moved elsewhere, the War of the Roses was followed by plague upon plague. York’s glory was a thing of the past. It became, instead, a military outpost of sorts.

In Georgian times, all that finally changed. The military moved out, and the posh set moved in. The aristocracy and gentry began taking up residence in York, turning it into THE social and cultural centre for the north. Many new elegant Georgian town houses were built, and York enjoyed a new era of gentility and refinement.

Today York is overrun by tourists, including yours truly, queuing up for a chance to tour the York Dungeons or take tea at one of the delightful little tearooms. Music loud enough to wake the ghosts of those old Romans rattles the cobbles of the town centre and men in cheap plastic centurion costumes urge visitors to visit the Roman Baths. The poor Vikings would probably run in fear.

But underneath the tourist trap still lies York in all its glory. Narrow cobbled alleyways dominated by medieval shops and houses grace the riverside. Gracious Georgian homes still peek from between modern buildings and over it all resides the last bastion of the Norman invasion… the remaining tower of the grand fortress that once was York.

And so, my lords and ladies, we begin….