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I live in the medieval City of York in North
Yorkshire, UK. I consider myself to be single and
will remain so (unless I meet the right person -
again!) I work for a large UK Insurance Company
based in the city and I live within a 10 minute
walk from the historic walls of the city.
I
holiday in Thailand twice a year and hope to
retire there in the not too distant future.
York is a historic walled city in Northern
England, at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and
Foss. Over the years it has also been known as
Eboracum, Eoferwic, and as Jórvík. its still
known as Efrog in Welsh to this day.
The city was founded in AD 71 and became in turn
the capital of a Roman province and of the
kingdoms of Northumbria and Jorvik. After the
establishment of the Kingdom of England, York was
regarded as the capital of the North, and housed
the Council of the North. Whilst the idea of the
North being a separate province with its own
capital has since disappeared from secular
politics, the Church of England has retained the
concept, and York remains the seat of the
Archbishop of York and the capital of the Province
of York. York is also the traditional county town
of Yorkshire, to which it lends its name.
Traditionally the term City of York was used for
the area within the city walls but the modern City
of York, created on April 1, 1996, is a much
larger unitary authority that includes several
neighbouring parishes which formerly belonged to
surrounding districts. The York urban area has a
population of 137,505 while the entire unitary
authority has a population of 184,900.
The historic core of the city is a major tourist
destination in itself, attracting visitors from
both the United Kingdom and overseas. York is also
the site of several major tourist attractions,
including York Minster, York Castle Museum, and
the National Railway Museum. York is home to the
University of York, founded in 1963, and York St
John University, which was founded in 1841 and
gained university status in 2006.
There
is archeological evidence that Mesolithic people
settled in the region where York now is from
8000/7000 BC, although it is not known if these
were permanent or temporary settlements. By the
time of the Roman conquest of Britain, the area
was occupied by tribes known to the Romans as the
Brigantes and the Parisii. The Brigantes initially
became a Roman client state but later became more
hostile to Rome. As a result the Roman Ninth
Legion was sent north of the Humber.
The city itself was founded in AD 71, when the
Ninth Legion conquered the the Brigantes and
constructed a military fortress (castra) on flat
ground above the River Ouse near its junction with
the River Foss. The fortess was later rebuilt in
stone, covered an area of 50 acres, and was
inhabited by 6,000 soldiers. Much of the Roman
fortress now 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 during his
stay in York, and his son Constantine the Great
was proclaimed Emperor by the troops based in the
fortress.
In the seventh century York
was the chief city of the Anglo-Saxon King Edwin
of Northumbria. The first Minster church was built
at this time, 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 866,
Northumbria was in the midst of civil war 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
Jorvik, Eric Bloodaxe, was driven from the city in
the year 965 by King Edred, completing the
unification of England.
In 1069, York
was ravaged by William the Conqueror as part of
his drive to subdue rebellion in the north. The
old Anglo-Saxon Minster was badly damaged by fire
at this time, and the Normans took the decision to
build a new Minster on a fresh site. Around the
year 1080 Archbishop Thomas started building a
cathedral that in time became the current Minster.
York started to prosper again, becoming a
profitable port and centre of trade, particularly
in wool. King Henry I granted the city's first
charter, confirming trading rights in England and
Europe.
The city underwent a period of
decline during Tudor times. Under Henry VIII, the
dissolution of the monasteries saw the end of the
monastic houses of York, although the city
continued as an ecclesiastical and social centre.
Henry VIII created the Council of the North in
York, and this increased in importance under
Elizabeth I, leading to a revival in the city's
influence.
In 1644, during the Civil
War, the Parliamentarians besieged York, but with
the arrival of Prince Rupert, with an army of
15,000 men, the siege was lifted. The
Parliamentarians retreated some six miles from
York with Rupert in pursuit, before turning on his
army and devastatingly 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 July 15 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 gradually dominated by the local
aristocracy and gentry. Competition from the
nearby cities of Leeds and Hull resulted in York
losing its preeminent 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 date from
this period, as do the Assembly Rooms, the Theatre
Royal, and the Racecourse.
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. By
the turn of the century the railway accomodated
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 and Terry's
Confectionery Works, making the city one of
Britain's leading centres for the manufacture of
confectionery.
With the emergence of
tourism as a major industry, the historic core of
York became one of the city's major asset, and in
1968 the entire core 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.
Thanks to Wikipedia
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