Monk Bar
Monk Bar features on the Gingerguide audio walk through York. Give it roughly ~20 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type monument
- Suggested visit ~20 min
- York York guide
About Monk Bar
The tallest and most warlike of York's gates: a four-storey fortress with murder-holes over the arch and the city's only surviving portcullis, its top floor built in Richard III's reign.
Monk Bar is the tallest and most elaborate of York's four medieval gatehouses, guarding the north-eastern approach to the walled city. Built in the early 14th century, its four storeys were each designed to be defended independently; a gallery above the arch is pierced with 'murder-holes' for dropping missiles on attackers, and it keeps the only surviving portcullis of York's bars, though it is no longer lowered. The top storey is traditionally said to have been added around 1484, in the reign of King Richard III. During the 16th-century Reformation the upper rooms served as a prison for Catholic recusants, and a tiny cell known as 'Little Ease' survives. Its outer barbican was demolished in 1825. A Grade I listed gatehouse, Monk Bar lies within the historic city of York.
Did you know? Monk Bar was built for a siege: each of its four storeys could be sealed and held on its own, and a row of 'murder-holes' over the arch let defenders drop stones or boiling water on attackers below.
How long is a visit to Monk Bar?
Set aside roughly ~20 min for Monk Bar. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Monk Bar worth your time?
Monk Bar is among the 18 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for York, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.