Saturday 7 October 2023

I had a brilliant afternoon yesterday (Friday 6 October 2023), learning about buildings in York that are not always in the spotlight. The event started with a great discussion on public engagement event organised by YORK UNLOCKED in the York Theatre Royal Studio.

York Unlocked is basically what it says on the tin! It presents an opportunity to learn about buildings which are not normally open to the general public.

York Unlocked is run by volunteers and have produced a fantastic programme of events over the weekend giving the chance to residents (and tourists) to view buildings we might pass every day and don’t go inside.

Entrances to where?

Ever wanted to go through a myserious door or venture down a snickleway that you’ve never been down before?

Public Engagement Discussion

The talk, in the Studio at York Theatre Royal, was presented by Heritage expert, Anna Hughes. Anna outlined a very useful context for what ‘significance’ can mean in conservation studies. After the discussion where we talked about significance and York, we went on a tour of some of the buildings mentioned in the talk. Buildings which will be part of the walking tour started at the Theatre Royal itself observing the features which demonstrate the different architectural periods of the building’s evolution.

We learnt about the different architectural clues. The walls of the old medieval hospital, the pillars from the eighteenth century building and the 1960’s foyer which is now a Grade 1 listed building.

After the Theatre Royal we walked over to the Assembly Rooms, the Guildhall, St Martin’s Church in Coney Street, and Holy Trinity, Goodramgate. We then returned to the theatre via Bootham bar and King’s Manor.

Assembly Rooms

I knew a little bit about the Assembly Rooms. The place where the rich in the 18th century rubbed shoulders at excuisite balls. I’d heard about the gap between the pillars needed to be wide enough for the women to get through with their wide dresses. What I didn’t know was that the interior was built to resemble an Egyptian Palace and the facade was rebuilt so that the road could be widened.

As we were about to move on from the Assembly Rooms, I put my hand up and mentioned I used to go to discos in there in the 1970s and another member in the group said she remembered those discos.

The Mansion House and Guildhall

We looked at the Guildhall which has recently been renovated by the University of York. The Guildhall is situated behind the mansion house and was badly damaged in the Baedeker raids of 1942. The rebuilding focused on trying to restore the building to appear like the medieval original. However, it now has underground heating!

Coney Street, York. Where is this fish pond?

St Martin the Grand, Coney Street

The Baedeker raids of 1942 badly damaged St Martin the Grand in Coney Street. My Mum told me that she remembered the church was badly damaged by the German raids which directly focused on towns and cities in Baedeker’s tourist guide

The Church was rebuilt preserving the South Transcept and preserving the old North Transcept as a restful outdoor space.

More info 👇🏻

https://her.york.gov.uk/Monument/MYO1630

A little detour…😂

I passed by St Martin’s every day when I worked at York and County Press. I worked there for 10 years.

There is so much to say about working at the Evening Press, the building and the move from hot metal to the new technologies which changed newspaper production forever. There are many traces of the newspaper industry on site and I might address them in another post.

And yes the fish are in the courtyard of Martin the Grand, but not so visible from the street.

👇🏻

Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate

From St Martin’s we walked to the Holy Trinity Church in Goodramgate. This was the best surprise of our afternoon walk. Yes, I knew it was there! Yes I had heard that it was where Anne Lister (Gentleman Jack) married Ann Walker. But for some reason I had blanked it.

Anne Lister (1791-1840)

There must have been a switch in my head that I just didn’t think about going through the arch in Goodramgate that I passed so many times. And what an oasis is there through that arch. Such a lovely place to sit and relax.

Towards Petergate

Why didn’t I take this shortcut on my way back to work after a quick lunch hour in York?

King’s Manor

Now part of the University of York, the King’s Manor has a wide and varied history.

I remember King’s Manor from my time as a student at the University of York.

More about Sally Arnup’s Calf:

https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/introducing-art-history-discovering-public-sculpture/0/steps/97492

Back at York Theatre Royal we voted for the buildings we thought were ‘significant’ (based on our earlier talk) and on our favourite building in york (not on the tour).

And my vote for significant building was King’s Manor. Why because it fitted all the criteria for significance:

Aesthetic

Communial

Historical

Evidential

We also had an opportunity to vote for our favourite building in York and I voted for Marks and Spencers as my favourite because of this:

* Spoiler Alert *– the view from the third floor of M&S. It’s not just a view, it’s an M&S view.

Thank you Anna. Thank you YORK UNLOCKED.

York Unlocked takes place this weekend (7, 8 October) Have a look.

For info:

https://york-unlocked.org.uk

Or look out for next year’s events.

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