The City of York [antikvár]

Foreword There are a good many ugly things in York. There is nothing unusual about this. It is true of all cities. There are, on the other hand, many buildings of great beauty, many highly attractive little streets and corners. In this respect York stands apart. It is, above all, outstanding in that it contains buildings from so many different periods and illustrating so many different aspects of life over the ages. It is like an English social history and a history of English architecture in miniatűré. This book deals mainly, though not only, with the area within the city walls. This is, naturally enough, the region of most interest to visitors. For the sake of convenience, I have divided the inner city into five main parts. These cover, in turn, the Minster Close; the area within the walls of St. Mary's Abbey; the heart of Georgián York and the medieval commercial district; the castle; and the district south-west of the Ouse. These five parts, each of which offers something different, can be taken as five shortish walks, but they have been so arranged that the energetic or those short of time can run them together into one lengthy perambulation. There are, in addition, short chapters on other points of interest. A final word of advice. York is a place to examine on foot. A car is only a hinderance. The visitor who has one would do well to abandon it at the earliest opportunity. There are a good many car parks and the use of them is to be recommended. The York traffic wardens are a fairly enthusiastic bunch.