Draft wording: Revisions related to remembering 1190

New Public Spaces Open Brief: Revisions related to remembering 1190

February 2026

The New Public Spaces Open Brief for the Castle Gateway area originally framed questions of reflection related to 1190 and Last Drop in the following way:

Thinking, praying, saying the Mourner’s Kaddish and ‘facing the history of 1190’ in a place that is spatially connected to Clifford’s Towers and, like the plaque that is currently at the base of the motte, visually references Jewish history and faith. #GatheringPlace #GatheringHeritage

Visitors to the Castle and Eye of York area understand the significance of Clifford’s Tower – including the significance of the daffodils. A crucial message visitors leave with is that 1190 was not the end of York’s Jewish Community and that it continues to thrive to this day. #GatheringPlace #GatheringHeritage 

People visit the Last Drop – the last place people in York were hanged – and it acts as a place for reflection and remembering. #GatheringPlace #GatheringHeritage

Groups of visitors meet and gather outside Clifford’s Tower – buying tickets and chatting to the English Heritage staff – before climbing the stairs to experience the refreshed visitor information inside the tower and take advantage of views from the roof deck. #GatheringPlace #GatheringHeritage

It also more broadly drew attention to the possibilities for interpreting the complex issues of authority, control, resistance and violence in the area.

This included additional briefing information:

To create a place for thought, reflection, prayer and saying Kaddish which connects to the histories of the place and especially the massacre of York’s Jewish community in 1190 while still being clearly being a living part of present-day York. It should be distinct from, while connecting with and sitting well within, the other landscaping in the area, including harder landscaping and movement routes and might be inspired by different traditions of gardens and outside spaces in the Jewish faith.

At the meeting held on 27^th January 2026 a number of points were clarified with York Liberal Jewish community and others who have a specific interest in the 1190 space. This has led to rewriting and updating the My Castle Gateway New Public Spaces Open Brief as it relates both to 1190 commemoration and spaces for reflection on violence of different types associated with the area.

At the meeting it was agreed that the Open Brief for this part of the masterplan should be updated to cover the following issues:

• Facing History: For the 1190 memorial space to be close to the entrance of Clifford’s Tower.
• Defined space: For the 1190 memorial space to be clearly defined from surrounding activities. It is important it doesn’t feel like a through way where foot traffic disturbs people using it, although visibility – showing the public that it is an active place, part of an active Jewish community, is important. Treatment of entrances could additionally “signpost” the meaning of the place.
• Gathering and seating: Enough space for groups to gather including sufficient seating to accommodate the uses and groups envisaged. This needs to enable Jewish groups to come and say the Mourner’s Kaddish as well as other types of groups who want to engage with this history – school groups for example. For seating to include accessible provision for all. To explore inclusion of an electrical connection to enable events in Clifford’s Tower to be accessible to those the steps exclude.
• Laying stones: While the site is one of commemoration and not a religious space, there is a need for a place for laying stones as part of the memorial space.
• 1190 and Peace: For the 1190 memorial area to explicitly address 1190 and its distinctively Jewish significance. There is also a need for the Castle and Eye of York area more widely to speak to broader issues not only of violence within the area but to also represent a hope for peace. This could include connections to York as a Human Rights City and a City of Sanctuary. It could include reference to other faiths. ‘Violence never wins’ could act as a theme that connects the many stories of the Castle and Eye of York. Further public discussion on the interpretation of the area’s histories is planned.

In terms of framing this for the Open Brief:

Groups gather to say the Mourners’ Kaddish or to hear about the history of 1190 and of York Castle. There is space to sit on comfortable and accessible benches, while others stand.

Events in Clifford’s Tower are made accessible to those who the steps exclude by exploring digital connectivity and how this could be facilitated in the memorial area.

The memorial space explicitly addresses and foregrounds 1190 including interpretation and detailing which is visibly Jewish.

The Castle and Eye of York creates spaces for reflecting on the complex histories of violence within the area and represents a hope for peace.

Visitors see but do not disturb activity in the memorial space, the design and separation making clear York’s continuing active Jewish community.

Feedback

• Do these revisions raise any issues for you around any aspect of the 1190 memorial space?
• Does the idea of linking the histories of the wider site and stories it tells of authority and violence to peace prompt any thoughts for you?

To give feedback you can:

Use this form

Email: [email protected]

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