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Bishophill

Bishophill
Lower Priory Street - geograph.org.uk - 673448.jpg
Bishophill, seen from the city walls
Bishophill is located in North Yorkshire
Bishophill
Bishophill
Bishophill shown within North Yorkshire
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town YORK
Postcode district YO1
Dialling code 01904
Police North Yorkshire
Fire North Yorkshire
Ambulance Yorkshire
EU Parliament Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
YorkshireCoordinates: 53°57′31″N 1°05′29″W / 53.9586°N 1.0913°W / 53.9586; -1.0913

Bishophill is an area of central York, in England. It lies within the city walls and has been occupied since at least the Roman period.

Known as "Bichill" by 1334, the name was also recorded as "Bychehill Lomelyth", "Lomelyth" being a reference to the gate in the walls now called Victoria Bar. The name may be derived from the "Biche Doughter" tower on the walls.

The district lies within the York city walls, covering the south-western area of the city's core. It slopes down, gently, to the River Ouse. Until the mid-18th century, a stream divided the area, running from Scarcroft Hill eastwards to the moat of the Old Baile. This was significant enough to act as the boundary between the two parishes of St Mary Bishophill Junior and Senior. The main road running through Bishophill is Bishophill Senior, which becomes Cromwell Road. The city walls border the area to the south and east.

The riverside area is now characterised by York City Council as a "quiet residential area with modern warehouse-style residential buildings", while the streets away from the river are described as a "charming network of terraced streets" and "a tranquil haven with a very strong sense of identity". The area's green spaces run along the ramparts of the city walls. The riverside buildings are at high risk of flooding, and so their ground floors are not in residential or commercial use.

The area was probably occupied in the pre-Roman period, and a few artifacts of the period have been found nearby, outside the present walls. In the Roman era, it was the site of the principle civil built-up area of Eboracum, which later became a colonia. The site had defences and some stone buildings, remains of which have excavated in the churchyard of the former St Mary Bishophill Senior. George Pace suggested that the church may have been on the site of a Romano-British cathedral, but there is no evidence for this.

Following the Roman withdrawal, the history of the area is obscure until the construction of St Mary Bishophill Junior in the 10th-century, a large stone building for the period. Following the Norman Conquest, Baile Hill was built up at the south of the Bishophill area, with one of the city's two castles atop. A bailey with earth ramparts lay to its north west; the castle may also have had its own mill. However, after Clifford's Tower on the other bank of the Ouse was rebuilt in stone, the castle was allowed to decay, some of its defences being incorporated into the city walls. By the 14th-century, the current line of the city walls had been developed, and in the 15th-century, the site was handed over to the city corporation and used for sports. Meanwhile, wharves were developed along the riverside, notably Queen's Staith, which opened in 1660, and warehouses were built. Over time, more houses were constructed in the area; the most significant was Buckingham House, home of Lord Fairfax. In 1667, the Friends' Burial Ground was created, and Ann Middleton's Hospital was founded in 1659.


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