The Swan, York

The Swan is a Grade II listed historic pub, immediately south-west of the city centre of York, in England. It was built as a beer house and grocery in 1861, at the end of a terrace on Bishopgate Street, the northern extension of Bishopthorpe Road. In 1899 it was purchased by the Joshua Tetley's & Son brewery, which in 1936 decided to remodel it. The redesign was executed by the Leeds architecture firm Kitson, Parish, Ledgard and Pyman, and it survives largely intact. The design centres on a large drinking lobby, with two rooms leading off, the public bar to the front and the grander smoke room to the rear. Each has a hatch for bar service. There is a hatch from the servery to Clementhorpe, which was used for take-out sales, but is no longer in use. At the rear of the pub, there are stairs up to first-floor accommodation, and down to the cellar. Surviving features from the 1936 redesign include the fitted seats, terrazzo floor, bell pushes, and toilets. It was made a Tetley's heritage pub in 1985 and was listed in 2010 following a campaign by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). That organisation describes the pub as "one of the best preserved interiors of its kind in the country". In 2009, CAMRA named The Swan its York Pub of the Year. By 2017, it was owned by Punch Taverns. That year, the landlord used the Pubs Code Regulations 2016 to move from being a tied house to operating on a market rent-only basis. In 2020, the pub was one of 14 in the city to appear in the Good Beer Guide.

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Baile Hill

Baile Hill is a man-made earth mound in the Bishophill area of York, England. It is the only remaining feature of the fortification known as the Old Baile. The origins of Baile Hill date back to 1068. Having seized York in that year, William the Conqueror built a castle on the south side of the city close to the River Ouse. Then, as a response to a rebellion the following year, a second castle was built on the opposite side of the river. There is no clear evidence which of these castles was built first, but it is generally thought to be the one which stood on the site of the later York Castle on the east side of the river, followed by the Old Baile on the west side. Like its opposite counterpart, the Old Baile was a motte-and-bailey castle. The motte was approximately 40 feet (12 m) high and 180 feet (66 m) in diameter, and was surrounded by a large ditch. A flight of steps led to a wooden structure at the top which was surrounded by a fence, also made of wood. The bailey lay to the north-west of the motte and was rectangular. Around its perimeter was an earth rampart and an outer ditch. The castle, it is believed, was not in regular use for long. By the 13th century it was in the hands of the Archbishop of York and in 1322 Archbishop Melton agreed to defend it in times of war. By c. 1340 part of the city wall had been built along the south-east and south-west sides of the Old Baile, incorporating the existing ramparts and ditch, however, these defences were rarely called into use. The only notable occasion was the siege of York in 1644 during the Civil War, when Baile Hill was used as a royalist gun emplacement. Apart from that, however, the Old Baile was used mainly for grazing and recreation activities, particularly archery during the medieval period. Today, Baile Hill stands at the junction of Baile Hill Terrace and Cromwell Road. The only other visible evidence of the former castle are two slight dips in the city wall rampart, one next to Baile Hill and the other close to Victoria Bar, which indicate the location of the former ditch. Houses built during the 1880s cover the rest of the Old Baile.

Castle Historic Site

Bonding Warehouse

The Bonding Warehouse is a historic building in the city centre of York in England. The building lies between Skeldergate and the southwest bank of the River Ouse. It was constructed in two sections, the northern block being built between 1872 and 1873, and the southern block in 1875. Both were designed by George Styan, the surveyor of the city of York. It was originally known as the Bonded Warehouse, and commissioned by York Corporation, for customs house officials to store goods on which duty had not yet been paid. In the 20th century, there was less commercial traffic on the river, and the warehouse closed in 1958. It was then used by Rowntree's for storage, then in 1981 was converted into a pub and steakhouse. In the 1990s, it was converted into a music and comedy venue, but it closed in 2000, following flooding. In 2004, it was briefly squatted by the York Peace Collective. In 2012, it was converted into a mix of offices and apartments, with concrete casings and a new footbridge enabling access even when the local area was flooded. The building has been grade II listed since 1977. The building is constructed of pink brick, with multicoloured brick dressings, an ashlar plinth on the riverside front, and slate roofs. The northern block is three storeys high and seven bays wide, and the southern block has two storeys and six bays. The central bay of the northern block has original lifting doors on the upper floors. There is a parapet, which rises to a gable over the central bay. The southeast front is two storeys high and five bays wide, and a gable over the central bay is inscribed "BONDING WAREHOUSE/ AD 1875". On the street front, the northern block is mostly six bays wide, with a single bay to the left set further back. There are lifting doors in the second bay. The southern block comes further forward. Inside, the northern block has an original full-height stone staircase with cast iron bannisters and handrail. The lower floors have brick vaulting on cast iron columns. The roof of the northern block has five queen post trusses, and the southern block four king post trusses.

Historic Site Landmark

Golden Ball, York

The Golden Ball is a pub in the Bishophill area of central York, in England. The first record of the pub was in 1773. The core part of the building was constructed in the early 19th century. In 1883, a house for the publican was constructed by Benson & Minks, adjoining the pub. The pub was sold to Braime's Brewery in 1884, and this in 1902 was taken over by John Smith's Brewery. In 1929, the pub was constructed by their architect Bertram Wilson. He combined the two buildings, raised the ceiling height in the older part of the building, and decorated the front of the pub. In the 1990s, an additional room was added to the pub, from what was formerly a private area. The pub has otherwise been little altered since the 1920s, and is described by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) as "the most complete surviving inter-war scheme by John Smith's". In 2010, the pub was grade II listed on the initiative of CAMRA, and it appears on that organisation's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. In 2012, the pub was taken over by a co-operative of local residents. Since then, it has held beer festivals, an annual summer fete, and sells works by local artists. It also hosts local music nights. The pub has two storeys and a cellar. The whole building is constructed of brick, but the older part, on the corner of Victor Street, has tiling at the ground floor level, and is rendered at the first floor. Its entrance is on Cromwell Road, opening onto a corridor, with the former smoke bar on the left, and the public bar on the right. Historic England notes that it has the only known surviving example of a "bar-side seating alcove", known as a "hall". There is a now-disused doorway for take-away sales, signed "Jug & Bottle Dept". The ground floor windows on Victor Street incorporate etched glass, advertising John Smiths and Magnet Ales. Many internal fittings survive from the 1929 redesign, including doors, tiling, flooring, and the bar.

Landmark Nightlife

St Clement's Church, York

St Clement's Church is a parish church on Scarcroft Road, south-west of the city centre of York, in England. There was a mediaeval church dedicated to Saint Clement, lying outside the York city walls, which gave its name to the suburb of Clementhorpe. In 1130, the Benedictine Nunnery of St Clement was founded, and the church was later recorded as forming part of the nunnery complex. The nunnery was dissolved in 1536 (although nuns were briefly reinstated during the Pilgrimage of Grace), but the church remained in use until 1585, when its parish was merged into St Mary Bishophill Senior. The church fell into ruin, and in 1745 the remaining stone from the church was removed and used to repair the walls. There was much construction in the area in the 19th century, and a new church was constructed as a chapel of ease to St Mary, on a site on Scarcroft Road. It was designed by J. B. and W. Atkinson, and was constructed from 1872 to 1874. In 1876, it was given its own parish. A vestry was added in 1880. St Mary was demolished in 1963, and many of its fixtures were relocated to St Clement, including monuments and boards, two of which record the terms of John Carr as Lord Mayor of York. The church was Grade II listed in 2000. The church is constructed of red brick, with stone dressings and plinth and dark brick bands. It has angled buttresses, and a steep slate roof covering both nave and chancel, topped by a small bellcote. The nave has side aisles, and the east end is in the form of an apse. The windows are lancets, those at the east and west ends having three lights, with two-light windows either side. The stained glass in the east window was designed by Jean-Baptiste Capronnier in 1875. Inside, the arcades are of brick, with stone piers and detailed stone capitals. There is a circular stone font, and an octagonal stone pulpit. The choir stalls and screen are later, and were designed by Robert Thompson.

Church Historic Site