A Green and Civic Space…

More amenity uses

After Esher …

Amenity considerations have been urged whenever new building in the Castle Precinct has been planned.

When the original Coppergate Development was planned, attention was given to the massing, detail and extent of its southern side to minimise its impact on the Precinct.

Plans for a large hotel in Tower Street brought requests that it should be one storey lower, so as not to challenge Clifford's Tower. As built, its roofline appears from the Eye of York to be an extension of the mound. Requests that its facade should be broken into small units as favoured by Esher were ignored, and today it has fourteen featureless bays.

Some years ago the Council showed a scheme to reduce the car park by about two-thirds with the rest apparently green space. Ironically, the scheme was opposed as it still put parking at the base of the tower's mound, and it was never put into effect.

However, lack of physical amenities has not precluded the use of the Precinct for amenity purposes, as this picture of February 2001 shows.

Recently…

Firework displays on Clifford’s Tower have attracted crowds of thousands which have filled the Precinct. There have been Victorian Fairs, with roundabouts, outside the Castle Museum. The area has proved ideal for spectacles, such as The Sealed Knot, and has been the starting point for street flotillas for the Lord Mayor’s Show, &c. It has been a main venue for York Festival events, with a big top tent and much youth participation.

Now…

Tourists and ice cream. But no room for a toddler to romp. People seem overawed by the Eye of York, even when assizes do not limit its use.

In future…?

"The north bank of the Foss, opposite the Castle, could some day be given over to a fun palace, providing for every indoor game and water sport and after-dark gaiety ever invented."

Thus Esher, in the conclusion of his conservation study, affirming that York "should not just be a city for old ladies." This applies especially to the Castle Precinct. Here are some possibilities; if the Council is unable to fund them, it could consider the same 'trust with civic partnership' scheme it is proposing for the adjacent Castle Museum, and the City's other cultural assets:

 The northern part of the Precinct, if grassed and paved, would make an ideal venue for outdoor spectacle, with Clifford’s Tower forming an excellent backdrop and providing some acoustic assistance.

 A dwarf wall at its northern edge, like that around the memorial gardens in Duncombe Place, could give substantial seating for people waiting for The Jorvik Centre, which must surely adopt a timed entrance scheme.

 A paved circle, possibly with dwarf wall, could be put on the site of the circular Governor's House, thus acknowledging over a century of the Precinct's history currently unmarked. It could be a focal point for street theatre, music making &c - a sort of 'flat bandstand'. It might also give the city a helicopter landing point.

 Paths to Castlegate, Coppergate Shopping, &c. might radiate from here, suggesting some of the wings which used to radiate from the Governor's House. One path, separated from the rest, could be given a smooth surface and be reserved for whatever sorts of 'small-wheel fun' are popular with the young.

 The area could have the vantage/information points which one associates with great historic sites everywhere. At York, inexplicably, there is very little. (In March 2001, an information point was at last provided, in connection with the opening of the Millenium Bridge and Walk.)

 The amenities of the Castle Museum could be supplemented, its circulation improved, and its isolation reduced. Its north side has ugly concrete rendering of the 1930s. It would benefit from a modest extension, matching that given to the south side in the 1960s. (For two hundred years, alterations to the Assize Courts have been mirrored in the Museum's building.) An extension might have a roof terrace for refreshments, leading off the former argricultural gallery. The ground floor area might become a new entrance, or house an audio visual display, like that in the recently closed The York Story.

 Possible buildings of a scale appropriate to open space could include a centre for English Heritage, a contemplation centre (for remembering all those who have died in the castle), &c.

 The area could take over some of the traditional role of St.George’s Field. It could be a venue for fairs, travelling exhibitions, big top drama and ballet, tattoos, Viking Festivals - the Jorvik Centre is very near.

 There could be open-air music making of every sort.

 A winter garden/atrium, built over the delivery area of Coppergate Shopping and communicating with it. York is curiously devoid of any sort of 'conservatory'.

 Events could be organised by, or in conjunction with, the Castle Museum: a former curator proposed a folk park, with historic buildings, after the pattern of Raindale Mill.

 The Castle area would make an ideal starting point for rides in antique motor vehicles, or Hansom Cabs, which were invented by the York architect of Micklegate.

 There could be ascents by tethered balloon - this used to be a York favourite.

 Paved areas could incorporate games like giant chess. A paving maze - a 'Troy Town' - would look particularly fine from high viewpoints.

 There would be the informal recreations one associates with a park: kickabouts on the grass, kids flying kites.

 Ice skating on a temporary rink: the courtyard at Somerset House and Princess St.Gardens offer city-centre skating on a such rinks: it could be offered here.