the Castle Museum & Clifford's Tower

On one not-so-fine British day, we went to the so-called Castle Museum in York. According to its website, "York Castle Museum is one of Britain's leading museums of everyday life. It shows how people used to live by displaying thousands of household objects and by recreating rooms, shops, streets—and even prison cells." The buildings themselves are two former 18th century prisons. The only reason for the name "Castle Museum" is that the York castle complex once stood there. There are some interesting things, but I don't know that it's worth paying for unless you're bored.


You can see the evolution of early vacuums... Did you know the first "vacuum cleaner" was so large and heavy, it was pulled by horses to your house on a cart? How did that work? You throw hoses through your open windows. I doubt it was a weekly event.

You can see the evolution of toilets... Did you know that one of the original concepts for an indoor toilet was dry and composting? You still "flushed," but instead of water coming down, some dry dirt was dumped over the goods. They say it worked well in that it didn't smell. The drawbacks spelling its failure were 1) you need a yard with space big enough to dig out a substantial amount of dirt 2) you need find a way to dry the dirt out 3) you need to haul that fertilized dirt back out to the yard.

You can also check out Dick Turpin's old prison cell. Who? Well, he's a notorious 18th century highwayman who terrorized a lot of the country, but finally ended up being imprisoned and hung in York.

You can see some scary early childbirth instruments next to the evolution of a lucrative mourning clothes industry (probably one in the same back then). All in all it's an interesting, but discombobulated presentation of all kinds of information from all sorts of non-chronological, loosely connected time periods.

Outside, in the courtyard of the old prison buildings and Courthouse (which is still used today) is a solitary tree where the gallows used to stand. Just beyond it is Clifford's Tower, the only remaining piece of York's castle.


Check out the model to see the entire complex as it once stood—the moat supplied by the river Foss.


Clifford's Tower was part of a motte and bailey castle built by William the Conqueror (aka William the Bastard) in 1068 to express Norman superiority in the North. The original version of the tower (or keep) was a pile of ground (motte) with wooden ramparts on top. Well, it pissed people off and they burnt it down within the year. After squashing their will to live, Will rebuilt the wood tower, along with another one on top of a motte nearby.


In 1190, the tower's history took a tragic turn. I've heard different versions of the story, but whether influenced by the crusades or by debt the citizen's didn't want to repay, the city turned on its Jewish population. About 150 Jews fled to the tower and barricaded themselves from the mob. When they wouldn't let castle officials inside because of fear, the city decided something had to be done and a mob ensued. The Jews decided to take their own lives rather than surrender to the mob and set the place on fire, killing everyone. According to Wikipedia, "The king's Chancellor dismissed the sheriff and constable for failing to prevent the massacre and imposed a heavy fine on York's citizens. However, the ringleaders had fled and could not be brought to justice." From what I've heard, the city itself has only recently admitted responsibility and made an official apology. The daffodils on the motte were planted in memory of those who died there.

In 1244, Henry III had the current 2 story stone tower constructed, complete with chapel, fireplaces, and latrines. It's said to be the only quatrefoil (4-lobed) plan in England and is thought to have been inspired by a French castle. Built to house the royalty, it spent most of its time acting as a treasury. It's debatable how it gained its current name—it was either named for Roger de Clifford, who was hung there in 1322, or Henry Clifford, the last Earl of Cumberland, who was the last to garrison the castle and city before they fell in 1644 to the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War.






Today it has a decent view of the city and some interesting features. It also has an unfortunate location, surrounded mostly by parking lots (the city is trying to rectify that with a Cincinnati Banks-like plan that's stalled in the planning process). I find it an ironic tower since it was only ever damaged or destroyed was by its own people, not invaders.