Situated
on the River Ouse, York evolved from Eboracum, a Roman city and military
base established at the end of the 1st century AD. York later became
a Saxon settlement before falling to Viking invaders from Denmark
in 837, when it was called Jorvik.
After the Norman Conquest in 1066, King William I built two castles
along the River Ouse at York. The one on the east bank was destroyed
during a riot in 1190, but its stone replacement, Clifford's Tower,
still stands in York.
York Minister was started in the 13th century and is the largest cathedral
in Britain and contains a considerable amount of Medieval stained
glass.
At the first census in 1801, the population of York was 16,000. It
was an important market and commercial centre, with wharves on the
River Ouse that connected it to Hull. Economic
growth in the city increased rapidly after the arrival of the railways.
The North Midland Railway linked York
to Leeds and Derby
in 1839. The following year the York & North
Midland Railway established a line from London
to York. By 1845 the line northward had reached Edinburgh.
York was now established as the most important junction on the east
coast route to Scotland. In 1842 locomotive and rolling stock workshops
were built in the city. Eventually it became the main locomotive works
for the North Eastern Railway (moved to
Darlington in 1905).
George Hudson, the Lord Mayor of York,
became known as the Railway King. By 1844 Hudson's companies controlled
1,016 miles of railway track. In 1847 Hudson was accused of financial
irregularities and was removed as chairman of the Midland
Railway Company. After Hudson was imprisoned in York Castle for
non-payment of debts, Hudson Street in York was renamed Railway Street
(reverted to Hudson Street in 1971).
With trains arriving in York from all directions, it was decided in
1873 to build a new station in the city. Finished in 1877, the 13
platform York Station was the largest in
the world and is considered to be one of the great buildings of Victorian
England.
(1)
Daniel Defoe, A Tour Through the Whole
Island of Great Britain (1724)
York is a pleasant and beautiful city. The
cathedral is a gothic building. The only deficiency I find at York
minster, is the lowness of the great tower, or its want of a fine
spire upon it, which, doubtless, was designed by the builders.
No city in England is better furnished with provisions of every kind,
nor any so cheap, the river being so navigable, and so near the sea,
the merchants here trade directly to what part of the world they will.
They import wines from France and Portugal, and timber from Norway.
They also bring coal from Newcastle and Sunderland.
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