Viking Life in York

York was a booming city at the time of the Vikings. With the possible exception of London, it was the most populated city in England. Most of modern day York was defined at this point. Coppergate is the most famous Viking Street due to the excavation there and the presence of the Yorvik Viking Centre, but streets such as Ousegate (High Ousegate in particular), Micklegate, Kings Square, Pavement and Fossgate were all probably equally populated. Following the Coppergate dig findings, we know that the Vikings there lived in predominantly single storey rectangular buildings whose walls were made from posts and interwoven branches or reeds to bind the posts together and form a waterproof barrier. They were of simple construction but easy to build and effective. The houses combined living space at the front with workspace at the back. Later, the more wealthy Vikings lived in two story buildings with cellars. York had a population of several thousands (one account written at the time claimed York's population was an incredible 30,000, excluding children, though the Doomsday Book indicated a number closer to 9,000).

There was a thriving industry in York. Coppergate got its name from the cup and tableware makers who lived there (derived from the Scandanavian word 'Koppa' for cup). The Vikings were expert metal and wood workers. The Ouse was the highway for their trade as they exported their wares and imported raw materials by river. Fish was brought down the Ouse from the Hull Estuary - wine, wood and even silk from Istanbul (then Byzantium) was imported.

At that time the Roman Fortress Walls were still prominent in the centre of the city. The later medieval walls only give a glimpse of what they would have been like, not least because the ground has risen since the Viking and Roman times. To get some idea of how imposing they would have been, it is worth studying the Multiangular Tower in the Museum Gardens, which is the best preserved Roman building in York. Here the adjoining walls stand 16 feet tall. This was one of four corner towers of the Roman fortress; others were at the Market Street / Feasegate junction (roughly where the former Boots shop was), 100 yards or so from Monk Bar towards Layerthorpe where the Medieval Wall was built on the foundation of the Roman One (some remains of the tower are still there), and between Gillygate and the Minster, close to the junction of Gillygate with Lord Mayor's Walk.  The Vikings probably built raised earth ramparts over the walls and possibly crowned them with a timber palisade.

Most of York's streets as we see them now have Viking derived names. Central York has changed very little since the Vikings time. As well as Coney Street, for instance, Blake Street got its name from the Viking word for bleaching, and this was possibly a street were sheets were washed and hung up to dry. Other examples: Fishergate was where fishermen made their catch or sold their fish; Skeldergate was where shields were made; Swinegate is where swine were kept; Feasegate where cows were kept (close to the Shambles, which was a butchers street); Blossom Street was a wide open street with ploughed land, possibly where horses and cattle grazed also. Most of central York's streets can trace their history back to the Vikings.