To 21st century visitors York appears to be a gentile and civilised town, with quaint streets and friendly locals. However, you don’t need to look far in to the past to reveal a dark and gory history. Over the centuries York has seen its fair share of executions, torture, massacres and murders. Maybe this is why it’s considered one of the most haunted places on the planet (insert link).
Clifford’s Tower Massacre
One of the most famous macabre events was the Cliffords Tower massacre in 1190 when 150 Jews took refuge in the tower from a local mob, following a number of violent anti-Semitic attacks. Rather than surrender and fall in to the hands of the mob, many of the Jews chose to take their own lives. They set fire to the Keep of the castle, destroying the structure. The few surviving Jews were later massacred by the angry mob.
The Gallows
There were several gallows or places of execution in York. The main one, the place of execution for Dick Turpin, was at Tyburn on the Knavesmire. Although the actual gallows were pulled down in 1812, there is still a small paved area where they 
once stood and plaque to mark the spot. You can see this on the left as you drive out of the city up Tadcaster Road.
By the early 19th century, people began to object to the unsightly gallows being situated on the main route in to the city. So in 1801 new gallows were constructed next to the Castle, where the roundabout is now located on Skeldergate Bridge. If you stand near the roundabout, next to the corner of the museum is a doorway – this is where the condemned passed through, taking their final steps on the way to the gallows.
Traitors
Treason was regarded as the worst possible crime, and therefore justified the worst possible punishment which was to be ‘hung, drawn and quartered’. This horrendous punishment consisted of dragging the traitor through the streets, ‘hanging’ them until not quite dead. They were then cut down alive, only for their private parts to be cut off, cooked and force-fed back to them. They were then ‘drawn’ which involved pulling their guts out whilst they were still alive. Finally they were ‘quartered’, and the remaining bits were boiled in salt water to preserve them. This happened to William Wallace, the Scottish rebel, as vividly portrayed in the film ‘Braveheart’.
When this punishment was administered in York, the four quarters were set on the four Bars of York, with the head displayed on a spike at Micklegate Bar. Here they would remain until they rotted, serving a warning to all passers-by of the consequences of committing treason.
Micklegate Bar, aka 'Traitor's Gate'
At the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, the citizens of York favoured the House of Lancaster. The Duke of York was slain at the battle of Wakefield in 1460. His head, which his enemies had in mockery covered with a paper crown, was brought to York and stuck on a pole over Micklegate Bar, his face looking towards the city. In the Shakespearean play of Henry VI, Queen Margaret exclaims: “Off with his head and set it on York gates…so York may overlook the town of York”.
The last time heads were displayed upon Micklegate Bar was during the Jacobite rising of 1745. After the Battle of Culloden 2 rebel heads were set on this “Traitor’s Gate” for about seven years, until they were stolen by a Jacobite sympathiser!
The Plague
York escaped the Great Plague of 1665 which wiped out large parts of the population in England. But it suffered from other outbreaks during the 17th century. Perhaps the worst was in 1604 when about a third of the city’s population died from the disease. It was blamed on the arrival of the Scots a year earlier when King James VI Scotland arrived on his way to become King James I of England. Those that contracted the plague were sent to temporary camps outside of the city walls, in an attempt to limit the spread of disease. Contact with the rest of the city was banned; food and drink was left at stone marker points. The plague victims would drop their coins in to hollows in the stone, which were filled with vinegar to disinfect the coins before they were later collected; this way healthy people could avoid coming in to direct contact with the sick. One of these plague stones still exists in Clifton (approximately 1 mile west of Bootham Bar), by the Burton Stone Pub. Plague victims were buried outside the city walls and it is said that they have never been disturbed since then, as a precaution against a resurgence of the dreaded plague.
Cholera
During the 19th century, much of York’s growing population lived in slums with appalling conditions and little sanitation. Unsurprisingly this led to numerous Cholera and Typhoid epidemics. These waterborne diseases were difficult to control at a time when most people shared communal wells for drinking water. In addition to the poor hygiene, some wells became contaminated from nearby graveyards, as the remains of cholera and typhoid victims affected the water supply. This accentuated the problem and caused the disease to spread even quicker. Eventually this prompted authorities to bury cholera victims outside of the city walls away from residential areas. One of these cholera graveyards can still be seen today, across the road from the York Station hotel.
Bodysnatchers at work!
Body Snatchers
Before the Anatomy Act of 1832, it was illegal to obtain a corpse for medical examination and the study of anatomy. Body snatchers became a big problem, digging up fresh corpses and selling them on to medical practitioners whilst they were still ‘fresh’. It is one reason why rich people paid churches more to be buried within the churches, out of reach of the snatchers!
Torture
Traitors and heretics were frequently tortured in York Castle. One of the most famous people to be tortured was Margaret Clitherow, the Catholic martyr, who was crushed to death in 1583 by an 800-pound weight for refusing to recant her Catholicism. Visit a memorial to her life in the Shambles.
- York Dungeon
York Debtors Prison
The 18th century justice system was harsh – petty crimes were often punished by floggings or even transportation to the colonies. Some convicts were shipped on a one-way trip to Australia, never to see their families again, for stealing a loaf of bread to feed their starving family. More serious crimes were punished by death. People who were unable to pay their debts were sent to Debtors Gaol, one of which was York Castle Gaol. Conditions in the jail were horrendous, with overcrowding and disease. Food was scarce, and prisoners were crammed in to small cold cells with just a straw bed and a bucket. Gaolers were often abusive and the prisoners had little if any rights. It was so overcrowded that in 1737 9 prisoners died of suffocation during the night, as they were sharing a cell designed for a maximum of 3 prisoners.
18th Century Convict Ship
