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Places featuresYou are in: North Yorkshire > Places > Places features > How well do you know York? How well do you know York?How do you think you've done? Did you find this quiz a bit of a doddle or have you been completely foxed? There were 18 pictures in our quiz, hopefully the answers will help you discover a little more about York's history! Everyday thousands of people walk past the not so famous features included in our 'Hidden York' quiz, but how many of them realise what they are walking past? Image 1 | Bootham BarOne of the four main entrances through York's historic Bar Walls. Bootham Bar stands on the site of the original north-west entrance to the Roman Principia (fortress). It is the Porta Principalis Dextra, hence the name of the shop just through the archway. The Bar suffered damage during the siege of York in 1644. The heads of traitors were sometimes displayed on the Bar - the heads of three rebels who opposed the restoration of Charles II were displayed in this way in 1663. The three stone statues on top of Bootham Bar are not particularly old. They were carved in 1894 and represent a medieval mayor (in the centre) with a knight and a mason on either side. The mason is holding a model of the (then) newly restored Bar. Image 2 | Cross Keys, Dean Court HotelIn York, the sign of the Cross Keys is closely associated with the Minster. Since its foundation in 627 York Minster has always been named after St Peter. Its full legal title is:- The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York. The Cross Keys are associated with the apostle St Peter, who holds the keys to the Gates of Heaven. This particular emblem is on the wall of the Dean Court Hotel, on the corner of High Petergate and Duncombe Place, near the West Front of the Minster. In Roman times High Petergate was the street leading to the main entrance to the fortress from the north. In later times it included one of the four entrances - the Peter Gate - to Minster Close, the area of land around the cathedral which was owned by the church and walled off from the rest of the City. Until the 19th century, the Minster Close came under the jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter of York and was known as the Liberty of St Peter. Image 3 | MinervaStanding at the junction of Stonegate, Minster Gates and High and Low Petergate, this is a statue of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom and drama. The statue shows that the shop below (what is now Shared Earth) was once a bookshop. You can see Minerva's left arm is resting on a pile of books and if you look closely you can see an owl peeking out from behind her. The inscription below is dated 1801 and attributed to John Wolstenholme. Between 1580 and 1607 the shop was owned by John Foster, who was said to have had a stock of around 3,000 books - which at that time was considered extremely impressive. Image 4 | Golden BibleThis golden bible - dated 1682 - hangs above the doorway of 35 Stonegate. The shop is now a posh gardening shop, but it was once a bookshop. Like the statue of Minerva in the previous picture, the bible was a sign that the shop beneath was a bookshop. In the 18th and 19th centuries this shop was said to be York's premier bookshop. The 'Sign of the Bible' also had a printing press and in 1759 John Hinxman published the first two volumes of Laurence Sterne's 'Tristram Shandy'.
Image 5 | Red devilLike the previous two pictures, the Red Devil at 33 Stonegate is also an indication of the building's previous life. The devil is not a sign for a bookshop, although there is a link between the two! The Red Devil is the traditional sign for a printer's shop. Stonegate was once the centre of York's burgeoning printing industry. York's first printer came here in 1480. Several years ago the devil was completely red, but this picture shows his head, beard and horns have been painted black. Notice how he is chained around his waist to the wall - is that enough to stop him causing any mischief? One of York's most important, but also tragic, printers was Thomas Gent who wrote one of the first histories of York. His printing press was on Coffee Yard, just off Stonegate. Gent married into a printing family, but ruined the business after repeatedly arguing with many of his customers, including the Dean and Chapter of York.
Help playing audio/video Image 6 | 1434 - Mulberry HallMany of the buildings in York have dates on them which show how old they are. One of the most prominent of these is Mulberry Hall on Stonegate. Almost six hundred years old, this timber framed building has been a shop since the 18th century and is now a prominent china and porcelain shop. After the Shambles, Stonegate is probably York's second most famous street. It links Minster Gates to St Helen's Square. It has been a street for almost 2,000 years. Originally Stonegate was the Roman Via Praetoria and like High Petergate led to the legionary headquarters, the Principia. The street contains buildings and architecture of every period from the Normans to the Victorians. Its name means 'stone paved street' and as you may have gathered for centuries it was associated with book shops and printing. Image 7 | Savings BankFrom Stonegate we come to St Helen's Square, home of York's Mansion House and the equally famous Betty's cafe! Look at the top of the top of the buildings on St Helen's Square and you'll see clues to the history of the buildings. This intricately carved facade, with its attractive gold lettering, was formerly the Trustee Savings Bank. Image 8 | YorkshireStaying in St Helen's Square, you'll find this is part of the lettering on what was formerly the Yorkshire Insurance Company which had its headquarters in the building at the corner of St Helen's Square and Lendal. The building is now Harker's bar, which takes its name from Harker's Hotel (formerly the York Tavern) which stood on St Helen's Square until its demolition in 1929 when the Square was widened. St Helen's Square was first created in 1745 when the churchyard of St Helen's Church was sold and the graves moved to an area along Davygate. It is said that so many bodies had been buried in St Helen's Square that a small hill had grown in the centre of York and it had become increasingly difficult for carriages to pass.听听 Image 9 | Lion on a lamp postIf you'd looked closely at what's in the background of this picture you might have realised the building behind the lamp post is the Mansion House - the official home of the Lord Mayor of York. As well as the lions on the lamp standards either side of the main entrance, there's another on the Mansion House door knocker. This one though has been worn away by the amount of polishing it's had over the years! The Mansion House is one of York's finest Georgian buildings. It was built between 1725 and 1732 and is modelled on the Queen's Gallery at Somerset House in London. The building was restored by the York Civic Trust in 1999 and is regularly opened to the public. From the first weekend in March to the weekend before Christmas there are guided tours of the Mansion House every Friday and Saturday at 11am and 2pm. Image 10 | The Little AdmiralHopefully you won't have found it too hard to work out what this picture is of! The figure in the picture is known as the 'Little Admiral' and he stands on top of the clock outside St Martin-le-Grand Church on Coney Street. He's holding a cross staff; an early form of sextant. The church and clock were badly damaged by a German air raid (April 29th 1942) during the 2nd World War (the admiral was not damaged in the air raid). It was another 20 years before the clock was repaired and back in working order. The work was carried out by York clock maker Geoff Newey. He began work on it in late 1965 and finished on November 4th 1966 - "a bitterly cold night" says Geoff. Image 11 | Coat of arms with boarsOn the opposite side of Coney Street from St Martin-le-Grand Church is a Starbucks. This impressive coat of arms is on the corner of the building (the corner of Coney Street and New Street). I've no idea who this coat of arms belongs to, but it is a fantastic piece of work. If you know anything more about it, email northyorkshire@bbc.co.uk. northyorkshire@bbc.co.uk
The building was originally a bank, designed by architect Walter Brierley, and built in 1907. Brierley was also responsible for designing a number of prominent buildings in York. Other buildings he drew up the plans for include Haxby Road School, Scarcroft School, Poppleton Road School, Park Grove School and York's central library.
Image 12 | SquirrelsAs with the coat of arms in the previous picture, I'm a little short on detail on what this picture shows. You'll find it a little further along Coney Street, above the doorway of the NatWest Bank at the junction where Coney Street, Spurriergate and Market Street meet. If you know anything about this email northyorkshire@bbc.co.uk northyorkshire@bbc.co.uk
Image 13 | CatsDon't worry, this cat isn't about to lose one of its nine lives by jumping off this window ledge - it's not going anywhere because it's made of stone. These cats are the trademark of architect Tom Adams. This particular cat is on a building on Low Ousegate. If you stand, with your back to the wall of the Spurriergate Centre, and look at the buildings on the opposite side of the road you should be able to see this brown cat as well as a black cat which looks like it is walking up the wall! You can find cats like these on buildings on several streets around York. Image 14 | Red IndianLike the Bible and Red Devil earlier in this quiz, this impressive Indian is former shop sign. He's a statue of a native North American Red Indian and you'll find him on a shop at the King's Square end of Low Petergate. A Red Indian like this is the traditional sign for a tobacconist's shop (tobacco having originally come from North America). The shop below is no longer a tobacconists, but its distinctive sign remains. You might have noticed that our little adventure into the hidden history of York has become slightly more random. The previous pictures follow a fairly logical route from Bootham Bar, along High Petergate, Stonegate, St Helen's Square and Coney Street. Image 15 | George HudsonAfter a little leap to Low Petergate, we head down Goodramgate - which you might think is an unusual street to have links with York's railway heritage. However the building which is now the National Trust shop is where George Hudson - the man dubbed 'The Railway King' served his apprenticeship as a draper. In the late 1820s Hudson inherited 拢30,000 from a relative. He invested heavily in the embryonic railway industry and bought shares in the North Midland Railway. By 1837 he was in control of more than 1,000 miles of track and was Lord Mayor of York. Hudson was famous for his vow to 'mek all t'railways cum to York'. By 1848 he was a millionaire having created an empire out of the country's chaotic rail network.
Help playing audio/video Despite this Hudson ended his life in disgrace having been exposed as a fraudster. Image 16 | Statue of ConstantineThere aren't many statues in York, but this is one of them! It's the Roman Emperor Constantine who was declared Emperor in York in 306AD. This bronze statue has been in front of the South Transept of York Minster since 1998 and marks York's links with this famous figure. Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to become a Christian. He converted to Christianity around AD312 when he is said to have seen a vision of the cross of Jesus against the sun. It's thought he first came into contact with Christianity through his mother, Helena who later became St Helena. Image 17 | Coat of armsNot another coat of arms! Yes, sorry, but I do know slightly more about this coat of arms than the others. From the statue of Constantine, continue round the Minster to the West Front. You'll find this coat of arms opposite the Minster, above the archway which leads to the former Purey-Cust Hospital. This is the coat of arms of the former Dean of York Arthur Purey-Cust who was Dean for more than 30 years (1880-1916). The Hospital, which opened in 1915, was built on the site of the old sub-deanery in Minster Close. Image 18 | Royal emblemSo why should a building on Gillygate have an emblem like this on it? What's it's connection with anything royal? The emblem is in-fact an Insurance Fire Mark, this is the mark of the 'Royal' company. It dates from the days when if you insured your house, the insurance company gave you a plaque. Each insurance company had its own fire brigade who, it is said, gave priority to those who were insured with that company!
A number of buildings around York still have these fire marks - a particularly good place to look are along High Petergate but they are also visible on Goodramgate, Low Petergate and Bootham. We hope you have enjoyed our little quiz and that you've found it interesting. How about trying our Clocks Quiz?
Among the sources used to compile this quiz were: 'The York Book' and 'The Minor Pleasures of York', a York Civic Trust walking guide. last updated: 09/04/2008 at 15:53 You are in: North Yorkshire > Places > Places features > How well do you know York?
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