40 
the river Ouse, 420 yards; from the West Tower to the Water 
House Tower, 246 yards; from the Water House Tower by the 
rampart of the city to Bootham Bar, 420 yards. The total circum¬ 
ference, it will thus be seen, is 1,280 yards, or nearly three-quarters 
of a mile. In this outer wall there were only two gateways, one 
of them opening into Bootham, near the bar, and the other opening 
into Marygate near St. Olave’s Church. The principal tower was 
the one at the corner of Marygate. In it all the records of the abbey 
were placed from its foundation. The records of most of the 
northern abbeys which were deposited at York instead of being 
sent to London, were also contained in the tower. These consisted 
of charters, charter books, ancl various documents, and an official 
known as the Lecord Keeper was charged with the care of them. 
The particular event with which the tower is associated occurred 
in 1644, during the siege of the city by the Parliamentarians, and 
shortly before the battle of Marston Moor. On Trinity Sunday in 
that year, at a time when the besieged were principally at the 
Minster or in the churches, the Parliamentarians, who had previously 
laid a mine for the purpose, blew up the tower and effected an 
entrance within the Abbey walls, obtaining access to the bowling 
green of the Manor House. A tremendous uproar followed. The 
Loyalists were not prepared for the attack, but many of their 
officers were in the Manor House at the time and they rushed out 
of the gates leading from the Manor into the Bowling Green. 
As they did so the Parliamentarians fired a volley upon them and 
several were killed. The success of the besiegers was, however, only 
transitory. The leader of the Parliamentarians at this particular 
point appears to have harboured some feelings of jealousy towards 
the commanders of other sections of the besieging army 
and did not tell them of what he was going to do. Thus when the 
tower was blown up and his soldiers rushed in, the attack was 
unsupported. The Loyalists were quick to discern this, and sent out a 
body of men by the Water Gate. These quickly proceeded up 
Marygate; the Parliamentarians were thus caught in a trap, and such 
as were not killed had to surrender. It is stated that some hundreds 
of men were unaccounted for that day in the besieging army, and 
the Loyalist loss was also great, especially amongst the officers. 
A most regrettable feature of the explosion at the tower was the 
wholesale destruction of the valuable records which it contained, 
and which, if preserved, would have vastly enriched the history of 
the northern part of the country. Many of the fragments were 
blown to a great distance. It is stated that some of these were 
