Hidden in Plain Sight: Walking Tour of Historic Ironwork in York

Heritage Open Days is England’s largest festival of history and culture, bringing together over 2,000 local people and organisations, and thousands of volunteers. Every year in September, places across the country throw open their doors to celebrate their heritage, community and history. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – and it’s all FREE.

This year the YCCC will be hosting a small number of walking tours in York’s historic centre, to showcase the city’s heritage and our members’ diverse craft and conservation experience. Due to ongoing uncertainty around the impact of Covid-19, we have limited our participation this year to Saturday 18th September and will be restricting group numbers for each tour to 15. We hope that you can join us for these fascinating talks!

You can find out more by visiting the Heritage Open Days site, or click below to register through Eventbrite (please note that some tickets may not be available until after 5th August).

Hidden in Plain Sight: Walking Tour of Historic Ironwork in York

Ironwork is an integral, and often beautiful, part of architectural heritage, yet how often do we walk past it without a second glance? This tour will heighten your understanding of historic ironwork. You’ll never look at ironwork the same way again!

Ironwork provides a valuable contribution to architectural cultural heritage, yet it is often overlooked and misunderstood. On this outdoor walking tour of historic examples in York, ironwork expert Bethan Griffiths will help you develop your ironwork detective skills and appreciation of ironwork by building your knowledge. You’ll learn the difference between identifying wrought iron and cast iron, as well as how to recognise basic clues about the age of ironwork, by looking at its construction (some pieces are much older than you’d imagine!).

We’ll explore a mix of high- and low-profile pieces within the historic city centre, giving you a flavour of the range of fascinating ironwork that is hidden in plain sight.

The tour will start outside the Treasurer’s House, taking in examples en route to York Mansion House and the magnificent St Martin’s Church, Coney Street. From there, we’ll take in the ironwork at the entrance to Museum Gardens and along St Leonard’s Place, ending at King’s Manor.

Come on this tour and your eyes will be opened to the beauty, creativity and engineering of ironwork. You will not only learn more about York’s historic ironwork, but will come away with the ability to use visual clues to understand more about all historic ironwork.

Click here to find out more about this event on the Heritage Open Days site.