Curtain Wall

The curtain wall is a Grade I listed structure located in York, dating from around 1250. It is part of the castle bailey and measures approximately 85 metres in length. The wall incorporates the South Angle tower and the South-east tower and has been integrated into the Castle Museum buildings. Over the years, it has been blocked, raised, and rebuilt at various times during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

Constructed from magnesian limestone, the wall has been rebuilt and heightened with gritstone and rose red brick in English garden wall bond. The exterior stands about 7.5 metres high, featuring flat coping that slopes up towards the Female Prison building. Both towers are now two stages high, with the South Angle tower being three-quarters round in plan and the South-east tower semicircular in plan.

There is a restored rebated gateway next to the Crown Court building, designed with a roll-moulded two-centred arch and a replacement nail-studded door. The towers have battered bases, and on the outer side, the South Angle tower includes a single arrow slit on the south-west side and a pointed gateway on the south-east side. The South-east tower features three cruciform slits in the lower stage and two straight slits in the upper stage.

Inside the towers, the South Angle tower has three shouldered embrasures, one of which has been altered for a pointed doorway. The South-east tower's lower stage has slits in shouldered embrasures, while the upper stage features slits in chamfered, square arched openings. The inner side of the curtain wall, facing the Female Prison, now serves as display windows in the Castle Museum entrance foyer and contains seven vaulted niches that were converted into lavatories in the early 19th century. The structure is also designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.