No. 5 Freya Horsley “The Walls of York: Four Studies in Movement and Permanence” 1. 2024
Artist’s note:
In making these four views of and from the York walls, I have returned again and again to walk, draw, paint and photograph, each time experiencing different section in different conditions. As a striking landmark of our city, the York walls continue to stand through all weathers, all seasons, through the throngs of visitors, walking clockwise, walking anticlockwise; they are a reassuring presence, both protecting and inviting. Change happens incessantly around them – buildings go up, roads are diverted, trees lose their leaves, buses trundle past, visitors arrive and depart – and the walls themselves remain the same, stable and constant.
Using a vibrant colour palette and the spontaneous marks borne of drawing and painting outside in all weathers, I wanted to capture some of this daily movement, atmospheric change and seasonal shift, whilst also respecting the very permanence that makes the walls an iconic and enduring feature of the City of York.
It is not just the form of the walls themselves as they snake around and through the city that I love, however. It is the unique vantage point that walkers of the walls enjoy, looking down onto a city so familiar but from up there, so different too. I chose to use some of these favourite views and also some key sites along the walls as starting points for the paintings, reflecting my impressions of what makes walking the walls interesting and varied, however many times you’ve trodden them before!
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FoYW’s note:
We think this is the “substanciall posterne at Fyshergate” which records say was decided on in 1502. Posterns were gateways through the city walls, gateways smaller than the ‘bars’. They were usually guarded by a single tower. York has lost all its other posterns. This view is from outside the walled city so it shows the tower’s defensive walls with just 1 slit window facing west, the windows immediately under the roof were probably once battlements with a fighting platform and low roof behind them. The city walls ended here with a dammed river-lake separating the tower from the walls of a royal castle.
Using this image: The artist has the copyright for this work but has told us that they, like FoYW, are willing for this image of it to be used as if it was copyright-free providing the artist is credited
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Posted February 2026 AF
