page_title: York Castle
section_title: 19th and 20th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: York Castle / History / 19th and 20th centuries
caption_attribution_description: English: York Castle in 1830; object number YORAG&#160;: R2957 released by York Museums Trust under Public Domain license (see http://www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/collections/search/item/?id=20002607&amp;search_query=bGltaXQ9MTYmQ0wlNUIwJTVEPUZpbmUrQXJ0JkZOPSUyQSZHZz1jYXN0bGUmcGFnZT02).
context_page_description: York Castle is a fortified complex in the city of York, England. It has comprised a sequence of castles, prisons, law courts and other buildings, which were built over the last nine centuries on the south side of the River Foss. The now-ruined keep of the medieval Norman castle is commonly referred to as Clifford's Tower. Built originally on the orders of William I to dominate the former Viking city of Jórvík, the castle suffered a tumultuous early history before developing into a major fortification with extensive water defences. After a major explosion in 1684 rendered the remaining military defences uninhabitable, York Castle continued to be used as a jail and prison until 1929.
  The first motte and bailey castle on the site was built in 1068 following the Norman conquest of York. After the destruction of the castle by rebels and a Viking army in 1069, York Castle was rebuilt and reinforced with extensive water defences, including a moat and an artificial lake. York Castle formed an important royal fortification in the north of England.
context_section_description: Criticism of the castle prison increased at the end of the 18th century. The facilities were felt to be inadequate and the crowds of spectators who gathered outside the prison to see inmates being taken into York for execution unseemly. Attempts were made to improve the way executions were carried out from 1803 onwards: the former castle courtyard, the Eye of the Ridings, was used for this purpose instead, although crowds still gathered outside the bailey to watch the slow deaths of the prisoners. By 1813 the execution process had been sped up by the introduction of the "short drop" method of hanging, allowing the unusually rapid execution of fourteen Luddite agitators at the castle in 1814. Overcrowding in the jail was now also a problem, with up to 114 prisoners being held at any one time; occasionally, around forty prisoners awaiting trial had to be kept in the jail yard for lack of space elsewhere.
  The suitability of the prison was finally brought to a head at the 1821 assizes in York, when an official complaint was made and an investigation begun. The decision was taken to purchase Clifford's Tower and the Waud house, with the aim of demolishing them both to make room for a new, more modern prison. Sydney Smith, the famous wit, writer and vicar of Foston-le-Clay, successfully led a campaign to save Clifford's Tower, emphasising the historic importance of the location for the surrounding city. An alternative proposal, put forward by architect Robert Wallace, would have seen the conversion of Clifford's Tower back into a habitable building to form the hub of a radial prison design, but this was turned down.
  In 1825, Clifford's Tower and the Waud house were purchased by the county of Yorkshire at the cost of £8,800 (£665,000 at 2009 prices). The new prison buildings, designed by architects P. F. Robinson and G. T. Andrews, were constructed in a Tudor Gothic style, including a gatehouse 35 feet (11 metres) high and a radial prison block, protected by a long, high stone wall. The prison, considered to be the strongest such building in England, was built entirely of stone to be both secure and fireproof. Dark grey gritstone was used in the construction to produce a forbidding appearance, although the prison itself was considered healthy and well ventilated.
  Clifford's Tower played no part in the formal design of the prison, although the talus, or sloping edge of the motte, was cut away and replaced by a retaining wall to allow more space for the new prison building. The backyard of the Female Prison, concealed from public view by the new wall, was used for hangings from 1868 onwards. The Prison Act, 1877, reformed the English prison system, and York Castle gaol was passed into the control of central government the following year. It was used as the county prison until 1900, when the remaining prisoners were transferred to Wakefield Prison, and from then onwards the facility was used as a military prison instead.
  By the early 19th century, dredging and other improvements to the river Foss had made it possible to import flour into York by river, reducing the economic significance of the castle mills. In 1856, the castle mills were finally demolished as part of a further sequence of improvements to this part of the river. The King's Pool that formed part of the castle's water defences was drained. With the construction of several new bridges near the castle, the site became "surrounded by roads instead of moats". Some major trials took place at the Assizes (now Crown Court) building of York Castle in the 19th century, including that of Mary Fitzpatrick who was accused of murder.
  In 1890 the Prison Commissioners agreed to declare Clifford's Tower a national monument and to conserve it as a historic location. In 1902 Clifford's Tower was given to the York Corporation, together with a grant of £3,000 (£242,000 at 2009 prices) arranged by Lord Wenlock for conservation and repairs. The removal of the talus and the damage to the castle stonework in the 16th century had put excessive pressure on the supporting motte, causing a recu
caption: The crenelated Tudor Gothic gatehouse of the new 1825 prison at York Castle, alongside Clifford's Tower, depicted in 1830
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