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Tower House, York
Tower House is a former military headquarters building in Fishergate, York, England.
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195 m
River Foss
The River Foss is in North Yorkshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Ouse. It rises in the Foss Crooks Woods near Oulston Reservoir close to the village of Yearsley and runs south through the Vale of York to the Ouse in the centre of York. The name most likely comes from the Latin word Fossa, meaning ditch. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The York district was settled by Norwegian and Danish people, so parts of the place names could be old Norse. Referring to the etymological dictionary "Etymologisk ordbog", ISBN 82-905-2016-6 deals with the common Danish and Norwegian languages – roots of words and the original meaning. The old Norse word Fos (waterfall) means impetuous. The River Foss was dammed, and even though the elevation to the River Ouse is small, a waterfall was formed. This may have led to the name Fos which became Foss.
The responsibility for the management of the river's drainage area is the Foss Internal drainage board (IDB). It has responsibility for the area from Crayke to the pre-1991 city boundary of York covering 9,085 hectares and 162.54 km of waterways. The Foss IDB is part of the York Consortium of Drainage Boards that oversees 10 IDB's in the Yorkshire region.
The typical river level range at the Foss Barrier is between 5.05m and 7.90m. The highest river level recorded was 10.20 metres and the river level reached 9.34 metres on 23 January 2008.
240 m
River Foss Barrier
The Foss Barrier consists of a retractable floodgate and pumping station owned and managed by the Environment Agency. It straddles the River Foss in York, just above the confluence of the Foss with the River Ouse. The barrier’s purpose is to prevent water from the Ouse flowing upstream into the Foss, raising water levels and flooding properties along the River Foss. The pumps next to the flood gate move water around the barrier via a side culvert so that it can continue to drain into the Ouse. This prevents water levels on the Foss rising when the barrier is closed.
The Ouse’s normal water level at York is approximately 5 metres (16 ft) AOD (Above Ordnance Datum). When the river level reaches 7.5 metres (25 ft) AOD, the barrier is lowered into the Foss, shutting it off from the Ouse. The electrically driven barrier takes less than five minutes to lower into position. The barrier operates as a ‘turn and lift’ gate (see below) so it opens and closes in a similar way to a garage door. The pump-house attached to the barrier maintains the water level in the Foss at around 6.5 metres (21 ft) AOD. When the flood subsides and the level of the Ouse drops back to 6.5 metres (21 ft), the levels in both rivers are equalised so the barrier opens, and the pumps shut down.
272 m
York Barbican
York Barbican is an indoor entertainment venue located in York, England. Named after the nearby barbican attached to Walmgate Bar, the venue hosts a busy calendar of live music, comedy and sports, as well as business events and conferences. It has a 1,500 seating capacity and a 1,900 standing capacity.
York Barbican is the host venue for the second biggest-ranking snooker tournament, the UK Championship, and has done so from 2001 to 2006, and then from 2011 onwards.
The centre is located on the southern end of York city centre, opposite the city walls.
347 m
Pikeing Well
The Pikeing Well, occasionally known as Lady Well, is a well in the city of York, in England.
The well lies on New Walk, which runs along the east bank of the River Ouse, Yorkshire, running south from the city centre. The walk was laid out in the 1730s, as an attraction for visitors to the city. By the 1750s, mineral water spas were popular places to visit. York did not have mineral water springs, so the city council instead decided to commission a decorative wellhead over an existing well. It claimed that the water was useful for healing illness related to the eye.
The wellhead was designed by John Carr, its form inspired by grottos. He reused Mediaeval stonework, which is sometimes said to have come from the chancel of All Saints' Church, but must have come from another source, as the chancel was not demolished until 1782. The commission was for £88 13 shillings, but Carr's fee was reduced by £25 in exchange for granting him the Freedom of the City.
The building is small and rectangular, with a semicircular niche at the rear, and a round-headed door facing the river. It is built of a mixture of limestone and sandstone. There is a parapet, which incorporates a broken 12th-century capital. There is a barrel roof, now covered in asphalt. Inside, the floor is covered in flagstones, and in the centre is a stone-lined pool, with steps down to it.
The well was closed by the Ministry of Health in 1929, at which time, an iron gate was placed over the pool. The building was Grade II* listed in 1954, and it was restored in 2000.