Micklegate Bar black plaque

This black commemorative plaque records: Micklegate Bar is the most important of York’s gateways and has acted as the focus for various important events, such as greeting a monarch on a royal visit and to display the severed heads of traitors. The earliest surviving piece of the present gateway was built in the earliest 12th century, but there has been a gateway hereabouts since the Roman period. Roman stonework and even Roman coffins were reused by the medieval builders in its construction. In 1350 the gatehouse was heightened to include a portcullis and a barbican, an outer passageway defending the main gate, was also added at this time. There were people living over the bar as early as 1196 and the last resident left in 1918. Recorded plaque organisation: JORVIK Group.

Micklegate Bar is the most significant of York’s gateways, serving historically as a site for greeting monarchs and displaying severed heads of traitors. Constructed with Roman materials and heightened in 1350 to include a portcullis and barbican, it has been continuously inhabited from 1196 until 1918, marking its importance in both defense and residential history.