Amenity before the Gaol of 1824

A Green and Civic Space…

The Castle is associated with "one of the earliest attempts in this country to preserve a building for its amenity value". In 1596 the corporation saved Clifford's Tower from demolition by its keeper Robert Redhead, who had begun to pull it down, apparently to sell the stone for personal profit. Their petitioning of Elizabeth I and her ministers generated a voluminous correspondence, remarkable for its steady representation of the tower as an ornament to the City. They cited the importance of near and far views of it.

In the 18^th century York developed as the Northern Metropolis. It had a social season "as glittering as Bath's and far more aristocratic". The nearby Ouse was laid out with pleasure walks; the area around the Castle became fashionable and notable town houses sprang up in Castlegate. The Castle Yard became a favorite meeting place:"a handsome and extensive courtyard, in which the debtors walk and expose various articles for sale, and into which the public are admitted with little or no reserve". It had a menagerie, with roaming deer and ravens, the splendid backdrop of the Debtor’s Prison and - later - the 'new' Assize Courts and Female Prison.

By the early 19^th century, Clifford’s Tower, long separated from the rest of the Castle, had become a romantic ruin. A picture of 1828 shows a picnic inside the tower. From 1699 Clifford's Tower was owned by two generations of the Sowray family, and became an ornamental feature in the grounds of their large property in Castlegate. The mound was terraced with winding paths and planted with shrubs. From 1727 the property passed to three generations of the Waud family, who made further the romantic additions. Dovecotes were installed in the tower.

But in 1825 the whole area became part of an extended County Gaol. Waud's grounds were incorporated "in point of healthiness". The new gaol was omnivorous: in 1826 Castlegate Postern with its tower was demolished, and further private properties were taken over in 1826 and 1827. The whole area was surrounded by walls up to 35ft high, and most of the views were lost. Public access was restricted to the south part of the site, and Clifford's Tower could only be entered by magistrate's order.

In 1878 the County Gaol became York Prison, under Government administration following the Prison Act 1877. This use ended in 1900, but the brief window of opportunity for improving the amenity of the area was closed when the buildings became a military detention centre. However, Clifford's Tower was transferred to the Corporation in 1902, and work was undertaken to save the tower from collapse.