York History

For over 2,000 years York has been at the centre of just about every episode in this country’s history, the Romans came in AD71, at the height of their powers, they conquered the Celtic tribes known as the Brigantes and founded Eboracum which, by the fourth century, was the capital of lower Britain.

The city’s ecclesiastical heritage pre-dates the famous Minster by many centuries for in 627 Bishop Paulinus baptised the Northumbrian King Edwin here in a small chapel and the Christian conversion of the north of England began in earnest.

Perhaps York’s most famous epoch was the Viking age - after many attempts the Danes finally took the town in 866 and occupied it for nearly 100 years. This era is explored thoroughly at the Jorvik Viking Centre, where you will be transported back in time to relive the sights, sounds and smells of the 8th and 9th centuries.