Northern Road Trip: Day 4 – From York to Oxford

On the last day of our trip to Yorkshire, we finally made a proper excursion of the city itself. We started in the Museum Gardens, which house a tiny observatory and yet another ruined abbey – that of Saint Mary from the eleventh century. We also visited York Minster, which is home to the Archbishop of York, also known Anglicanism’s top dog number three following the monarch and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Although it boasts of having the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world (I’m not sure how this compares to Gloucester Cathedral’s similar claim), I would say its most fascinating feature is the Doom Stone. Located in the cathedral’s crypt, it depicts sinners inside a boiling cauldron as well as demonic-looking figures.

Our final stop before starting our journey back to Oxford was Clifford’s Tower, which was built by William the Conqueror to help subdue the north. In 1190, 150 Jews hid at the tower from an angry mob. Rather than letting themselves be killed, most of them chose to commit suicide, setting the wooden keep ablaze to keep their bodies from being mutilated. Those who surrendered and promised to convert were killed regardless. Daffodils are planted around the tower in remembrance of the event, as their six petals resemble the Star of David.

The Department of Archaeology at the University of York
Saint Mary's Abbey
More ruins
The interior of York Minster
The opposite view of the same
A banner and a pulpit
The Doom Stone at York Minster
The crypt
A sarcophagus
Clifford Tower

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