Top York attraction sees huge rise in visitors after best-ever year
One of York’s oldest attractions has won many new fans.
As English Heritage prepares to re-open its doors for the 2023 season tomorrow (Saturday, 11 February), it is aiming for another bumper year.
And the charity has revealed one of its best performing attractions in 2022 was right here in York.
Visitor numbers at Clifford’s Tower were up 31% up on 2019, with 2022 its best year ever. The rise was recorded between April and December 2022 compared with the same period in 2019 as the Tower remained closed for upgrade work between January and March 2022.
The last remaining part of York Castle, Clifford’s Tower has been a royal mint, medieval stronghold and Civil War garrison.
Reopened in 2022 after a major £5m conservation project, Clifford’s Tower now boasts a new free-standing roof deck and internal walkways, offering panoramic views of the city and access to previously unreachable rooms.
Old and new
It is not the only English Heritage-run attraction North Yorkshire that is doing well.
- Aldborough Roman Site – visitors up 30% on 2021, with 2022 its best year since 1999
The capital of the Romanised Brigantes, the largest tribe in Britain during the Roman period. The site’s fascinating museum has an outstanding collection of Roman finds.
- Mount Grace Priory – visitors up 47% on 2021, with 2022 its best ever year
The best-preserved Carthusian monastery in England, Mount Grace Priory was home to hermitic monks in the Middle Ages, each living in one of the monastery’s 25 individual cells with private gardens. After the reformation, it became home to wealthy owners including Lowthian Bell who remodelled part of it in the Arts and Crafts style.
- Pickering Castle – visitors up 18% on 2021, with 2022 its best year since 1997.
This splendid and remarkably well-preserved 13th century castle was used as a royal hunting lodge, holiday home and stud farm by a succession of medieval kings.
- Richmond Castle – visitors up 16% on 2021, with 2022 its best year since 1997
One of the finest and most complete 11th century fortresses in the country, Richmond Castle’s history spans centuries – from the Norman Conquest to the First World War.
- Whitby Abbey – visitors up 25% on 2021, with 2022 its best year ever
Set high on the clifftops overlooking the sea, Whitby Abbey played a pivotal role in the history of Christianity in England before being suppressed by Henry VIII in 1539. Its vast Gothic arches have inspired many a masterpiece, most notably Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Kate Mavor, chief executive of English Heritage, said, “Last year was a year of recovery for English Heritage, with domestic tourism once again picking up to pre-pandemic levels and, in many cases, exceeding it.
“Many of our most recognisable attractions enjoyed their best-ever years in 2022, which is a clear indication that homegrown tourism is flourishing once again in areas such as Cornwall and Yorkshire.
“As we prepare to reopen our sites for the season this weekend, everyone at English Heritage is looking forward to an exciting 2023.
“Just last week, we added the fascinating Thornborough Henges in Yorkshire to the collection of sites in our care and this year also sees us launch a new museum at Lindisfarne Priory in Northumberland, re-create a Roman gateway at Richborough Roman Fort in Kent, and revive one of the great historic sites in the North East – Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens outside Newcastle.”