York city walls The English city of York has , since Roman times , been defended by walls of one form or another . To this day , substantial portions of the walls remain , and York has more miles of intact wall than any other city in England . They are known variously as York City Walls , the Bar Walls and the Roman walls ( though this last is a misnomer as very little of the extant stonework is of Roman origin , and the course of the wall has been substantially altered since Roman times ) . History . Roman walls . The Multangular Tower in the Museum Gardens is the most noticeable and intact structure remaining from the Roman walls . It was constructed as part of a series of eight similar defensive towers , possibly built on the orders of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus , or Constantine the Great who both lived in Eboracum , as Roman York was known , from 209 to some point in the seventh century . The walls are almost certainly the creation of Septimius Severus , however the Multangular Tower is probably a later addition of Constantine the Great around AD 310 - 20 . It has ten sides and is almost tall . The lower courses are original Roman stonework , though the upper course with arrowslit s is a later medieval addition . The Multangular Tower and the other seven similar towers were , however , a late addition to the walls . The original walls were built around 71 AD , when the Romans erected a fort ( castra ) occupying about 50 acres or 21 . 5 hectares near the banks of the River Ouse . The rectangle of walls was built as part of the fort ' s defences . The foundations and the line of about half of these Roman walls form part of the existing walls , as follows : The line of the rest of the Roman wall went south - west from the east corner , crossing the " via principalis " of the fortress where King ' s Square is now located . The south corner was in what is now Feasegate , and from here the wall continued northwest to the west corner . The point where the wall crossed the " via praetoria " is marked by a plaque in St Helen ' s Square near the Mansion House . After the Romans . The Danes occupied the city in 867 . By this time the Roman defences were in poor repair , and the Danes demolished all the towers save the Multangular Tower and restored the walls . The majority of the remaining walls , which encircle the whole of the medieval city , date from the 12th – 14th century , with some reconstruction carried out in the 19th century and later . From the east corner of the Roman walls , the medieval wall extends to Layerthorpe Bridge . After the bridge , the King ' s Fishpool , a swamp created by the Normans ' damming of the River Foss , provided adequate security for the city , and no walls were ever built in this area . The walls resume beyond the now canalised Foss at the Red Tower , a brick building which has been much restored over the years . They continue south and west around the Walmgate area , terminating in another tower ( Fishergate Postern ) , near York Castle , which was formerly surrounded by its own walls and a moat . A small stretch of wall on the west side of Tower Gardens terminates at Davy Tower , another brick tower located next to the River Ouse . This originally ran up to the castle walls , with a postern on Tower Street . Beyond the Ouse , the walls resume at Skeldergate , where there was once another postern . They climb past Baile Hill , take a right turn and proceed north - west parallel to the Inner Ring Road . Near the railway station , they turn right again in a north - easterly direction , finishing at Barker Tower on the Ouse . Barker Tower was once linked by a chain across the river , parallel to the nineteenth - century Lendal Bridge . A small stretch of wall then leads to the entrance to Museum Gardens , the Multangular Tower and the original line of the Roman walls . Today the walls are a scheduled ancient monument and a grade 1 listed building . Bars . The walls are punctuated by four main gatehouse s , or ' bars ' , ( Bootham Bar , Monk Bar , Walmgate Bar and Micklegate Bar below ) . These restricted traffic in medieval times , and were used to extract tolls , as well as being defensive positions in times of war . Bootham Bar . Although much of Bootham Bar was built in the 14th and 19th centuries , it also has some of the oldest surviving stonework , dating to the 11th century . It stands almost on the site of " porta principalis dextra " , the north western gate of Eboracum . Monk Bar . This four - story gatehouse is the tallest and most elaborate of the four , and was built in the early 14th century . It was intended as a self - contained fort , and each floor is capable of being defended separately . The current gatehouse was built to replace a 12th - century gate known as Munecagate , which stood to the north - west , on the site of the Roman gate " porta decumana " – that location is indicated by a slight dip in the earth rampart . Today , Monk Bar houses the Richard III Museum and retains its portcullis in working order . Walmgate Bar . Most of Walmgate Bar was built during the 14th century , although the inner gateway dates from the 12th century . The Bar ' s most notable feature is its barbican , which is the only one surviving on a town gate in England . It also retains its portcullis and 15th century oak doors . On the inner side , an Elizabethan house , supported by stone pillars , extends out over the gateway . The Bar has been repaired and restored many times over the years , most notably in 1648 , following the 1644 Siege of York in the English Civil War when it was bombarded by cannon fire , and in 1840 after it had suffered years of neglect . It was also damaged in 1489 when , along with Fishergate Bar , it was burnt by rebels who were rioting over tax raises . Micklegate Bar . The name of this four - storey - high gatehouse is from the Old Norse ' mykla gata ' or ' great street ' , and leads onto Micklegate ( ' gate ' is Norwegian for ' street ' remaining from Viking influence in York ) . It was the traditional ceremonial gate for monarchs entering the city , who , in a tradition dating to Richard II in 1389 , touch the state sword when entering the gate . A 12th - century gatehouse was replaced in the 14th century with a heavy portcullis and barbican . The upper two floors contain living quarters , which today are a museum of the bar , and the city . Its symbolic value led to traitors ' severed heads being displayed on the defences . Heads left there to rot included : Henry Hotspur Percy ( 1403 ) , Henry Scrope , 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham ( 1415 ) , Richard Plantagenet , 3rd Duke of York ( 1461 ) , and Thomas Percy , 7th Earl of Northumberland ( 1572 ) . Minor bars . Besides the four main bars , there are two smaller bars . Fishergate Bar . This Bar originally dates from around 1315 , when it was documented as being called Barram Fishergate . It was bricked up following riots in 1489 , but was reopened in 1827 and today provides pedestrian access through the walls between the Fishergate area ( actually Fawcett Street / Paragon Street ) and George Street . Victoria Bar . As the name suggests , this bar is a 19th - century addition to the walls . It was opened in 1838 to provide direct access between Nunnery Lane and Bishophill . However , during its construction the remains of an ancient gateway were found beneath it . This was probably the gateway known in the 12th century as the lounelith or secluded gateway ( in comparison to Micklegate Bar or the great bar located four hundred yards away ) . This was a small entrance to the city which dated back to early medieval times but was blocked up later with earth and stone , possibly during the period when the walls consisted solely of a wooden palisade before they were rebuilt in stone ( from around 1250 ) .