For centuries the city’s businesses supplied York-made goods locally, nationally and across the world. A place of making – chocolate, iron, railway carriages, printing and publishing were all part of the manufacturing success of the city.

The evidence for many of these factories has now been built over, and the air quality of the city centre has certainly improved.

While the sector may not employ the same numbers of people, high-tech engineering and fabrication, food and heritage crafts continue the tradition. The city centre skyline was once spiked with chimneys as numerous small and medium-sized factories, mills and foundries employed hundreds of York residents.

Rowntree’s, Terry’s and the city’s carriageworks employed thousands of people, mostly involved in labour-intensive manufacturing processes.

The arrival of the railways in 1840s saw a rapid rise in manufacturing across the city. The railways not only created a demand for iron goods but also reduced transport costs for both materials, in particular coal, and finished products to reach new markets.

York’s carriageworks were producing up to a 100 railway wagons a week by 1860s. This industrial growth in manufacturing also allowed feeder businesses to diversify and grow.

When Varvill’s Ebor Ironworks looked to purchase a new technically advanced steam engine in 1840 to power its manufacturing it was able to work with Bradwell’s Iron Foundry in Micklegate which designed and manufactured the first steam engine to be made within the city walls.

York’s printing industry was also one of innovation. Several newspaper and publishing companies from the 17th century were run by women, including Alice Broad in 1660s, Ann Ward – printer and newspaper proprietor 100 years later, and Mary Sessions who successfully expanded William Sessions and Co into a nationally recognised company. The printing these trailblazers would have recognised is continued through the Thin Ice Press located in St Anthony’s Hall Gardens.

Quaker business leaders, including the Rowntree family, were influential in improving factory working conditions and creating nurturing environments for their workforce.

Rowntree’s Haxby Road factory was at the forefront of what became known as garden factories, with spaces for leisure, gardens for pleasure and opportunities for learning and developing skills.

The factory was celebrated this month with a new Blue Plaque from York Civic Trust on its Haxby Road entrance.

Officially unveiled by the Lord Mayor and Sherriff’s Consort, the centrepiece of the event was the recollections of Ken Cooke on his experience of working in the factory beginning in 1940.

Either side of combat in the Second World War, Ken remembered with joy the experience of being part of the Rowntree’s working family. Such was the appeal of working at Rowntree’s, often several generations of the same families were employed at the factory.

Rowntree’s forward-looking village – New Earswick – created much improved living conditions for employees, continuing to support people into retirement. However, conditions working in York’s manufacturing businesses were not always conducive to a healthy life.

In the 18th and 19th century, iron foundries were dangerous places to work. Heavy, steam-powered machinery, intense heat and little understanding of operational health or safety or the long-term effects of industrial processes and pollution led to high levels of injury and workplace deaths.

As with other industries in the mid-20th century, asbestos was a widely used product. Newly made railway carriages were insulated by spraying asbestos cement under high pressure with little or no protection for employees. The long-term and often fatal consequences of working with asbestos are now well known.

York today is at the centre of clusters of high-tech manufacturing – keeping alive the tradition of the city as a place of making.

York Minster’s centre of excellence is revolutionising the heritage craft of traditional stone masonry, establishing York as an international leader in the field. Computer driven lathes and saws allow skilled stone masons to concentrate on the finer detailed carving work.

York and North Yorkshire are having a resurgence in transport manufacturing and high-value engineering. York is also interested in training and developing the next generations of manufacturers, engineers and innovators with both the University of York and York College having advanced engineering laboratories and teaching.

Alongside all this high-tech manufacturing York still maintains its position as an international centre for stained glass window manufacturing, a craft that is centuries old.

And, of course, still produces millions of KitKats each day.

Andrew Morrison is the chief executive officer of York Civic Trust

The post Made in York – the city’s manufacturing story over decades first appeared on York Civic Trust.

An interactive display at Acomb Explore Centre and a programme of pop-ups and walkshops have encouraged residents to share memories and identify places of importance. Feedback highlights strong interest in local history, alongside concerns about the protection and maintenance of heritage, access to open space, and how community voices are heard.

In the coming months, the project will deliver a series of heritage workshops, support new Heritage Ambassadors, and continue creative engagement through artist-led activities. Together, these next steps will help ensure that local heritage is shaped and sustained by the communities it represents.

The post Our Place: Acomb and Westfield – Early Findings and Next Steps first appeared on York Civic Trust.

The recent approval of plans to adapt the former canteen and Alliance House at the Carriageworks on Holgate Road is, in many ways, a quiet success story.

Dating from the 1880s and once part of York’s vast railway manufacturing complex, these buildings remind us that York’s railway heritage was not only about engines and engineering, but about people, skills, and community.

That Network Rail is now set to bring them back into use is welcome. It follows, however, a near miss. The partial collapse of the canteen roof in April 2023, after a period of neglect, and subsequent proposals for demolition, showed how easily heritage can slip from “valued” to “vulnerable.”

Buildings are rarely lost overnight; more often through inattention or delay than by criminal damage (such as the demolition of the “Crooked House” pub in Staffordshire in 2023).

It was in direct response to this threat that York Civic Trust established the city’s Heritage at Risk Register, inviting nominations from the public. While national surveys suggested York had little heritage at risk, local experience told a different story. These registers tend to focus on designated assets. York, with its high number of listed buildings, can appear well protected on paper, yet that picture is incomplete.

The York Heritage at Risk Register takes a broader view. It is understood to be unique in the UK in being both initiated and maintained by a local amenity society, and in inviting entries directly from the public. It allows “heritage” to be shaped not only by formal designation, but by lived experience – what communities recognise as part of their story.

This approach sits alongside the York Local Heritage List, established in 2007. That list includes around 170 buildings and spaces which contribute to the city’s character but fall short of national designation. They range from bowling greens, air-raid shelters to former post offices and oddities such as the Bile Beans sign.

Picture: Colin McLean

Yet the record since 2007 is sobering. Over 20 locally listed assets have been lost through demolition or drastic alteration. In the city centre, half of those once identified have disappeared. Names like Reynard’s Garage have been erased. In places such as Piccadilly, the cumulative effect of change is hard to ignore. Only the listed Red Lion pub and the facade of the Banana Warehouse remain, raising questions about whether the conservation area still reflects a coherent historic entity.

This is why a local Heritage at Risk Register is not simply a list for its own sake. York hardly needs more lists to prove its historic importance; with more than 1,300 nationally designated assets, its significance is beyond doubt. Rather, the register can act as an early warning system and a catalyst for action. It highlights buildings before they reach irreversible decline and gives communities a way to articulate what they value.

There are already signs of how this might evolve.

The “Our Place” project in Acomb and Westfield is expected to bring forward new candidates – sites that may never feature in a national survey but are central to local identity. In this way, the register becomes a tool for discovering, not only saving, heritage.

All of this takes on added significance in the context of the Government’s current planning consultation. The drive to streamline decision-making is understandable, particularly in the face of housing and infrastructure needs.

But there is a risk that, in simplifying processes, the quieter mechanisms of local understanding are diminished. Heritage, especially at the local level, does not always fit neatly into national frameworks or expedited timelines.

Long gone – The former Reynards garage/ aircraft factory on Piccadilly, York – now the site of Spark York. Picture David Harrison

A locally grounded register offers a counterbalance. While not a formal planning tool, it helps ensure decisions are informed not only by policy, but by knowledge within the community. It creates a space where concerns can be raised early, patterns of neglect identified, and intervention considered before options narrow. It can range from major sites like Bootham Park Hospital, empty since 2015, to less visible but vulnerable assets such as York’s archaeological deposits, threatened by climate change and changes to the water table.

The story of the Carriageworks buildings shows what is possible when heritage is recognised in time. The lesson of sites already lost is what happens when it is not.

Between those outcomes lies the quiet often unglamorous work of paying attention – of looking up and spotting buddleia growing, slipped tiles, evidence of trespass, and then speaking up.

Check out York Citizen’s Heritage at Risk Register:

The post York Heritage at Risk Register highlights vulnerable sites first appeared on York Civic Trust.

The plaque marks one of the most important confectionery factories in Britain. The Cocoa Works helped make York internationally synonymous with chocolate production, manufacturing well-known brands including KitKat, Smarties, Aero and Milkybar.

The plaque’s design takes inspiration from historic Rowntree packaging, notably the distinctive blue wartime “KitKat” wrapper introduced during the Second World War when milk was rationed and a new recipe had to be devised. KitKats were exclusively produced in this factory in York until the 1970s. The plaque’s blue colour reflects this historic moment, while keeping to the established tradition of York Civic Trust’s plaques being blue.

The Haxby Road factory employed more than 6,000 people by 1920. It was notable not only for its scale and output, but for its pioneering approach to industrial welfare and innovation in food production. It incorporated dining halls, medical facilities, education spaces and recreational amenities – reflecting a broader commitment to employee wellbeing.

Duncan Marks, Heritage and Planning Manager at York Civic Trust, said: “York’s identity as a city of chocolate was shaped here, and through Nestlé it remains an international brand. The Rowntree factory combined industrial innovation with a progressive approach to worker welfare, with influence felt nationwide. This plaque ensures that contribution is properly recognised and remains part of York’s story.”

Nestlé continues to produce chocolate in York, but the factory building closed in 2006 and has recently been redeveloped by Latimer, the development arm of Clarion Housing Group, into an £80 million residential scheme. The Cocoa Works now provides 279 apartments, 30 per cent of which are affordable homes, bringing new use to one of York’s most significant industrial sites.

The plaque forms part of York Civic Trust’s programme to recognise places that have shaped the city and its wider national story. In its 80th year, the Trust is highlighting sites that contributed to Britain’s industrial, social and cultural development.

Kevin Shrimpton, York Factory Manager at Nestlé UK and Ireland, said: “The Cocoa Works on Haxby Road is part of York’s proud manufacturing history and this plaque is a fitting way to recognise the people, products and values that came from it. It was here that many of Britain’s best-loved chocolate brands were created. The plaque’s KitKat-inspired design connects the past to the present – and we’re proud to continue making millions of KitKat bars every day right next door, keeping York’s chocolate-making tradition very much alive.”

Michael Briffett, Regional Managing Director at Clarion Housing Group, said:

“We’re proud to have brought the Cocoa Works back into use, preserving an important part of York’s heritage while creating much-needed new homes. Through its careful refurbishment, this landmark building continues to reflect the character and history that have shaped the city. This plaque is a fitting tribute to that legacy and to the role Cocoa Works continues to play in York’s story.”

The post Historic Rowntree factory at York’s Cocoa Works honoured with new blue plaque first appeared on York Civic Trust.

The Trust has worked closely with the York Central development team since their appointment, holding workshops, discussions and giving advice to help ensure the scheme is the best it can be.

The Phase 1c Reserved Matters planning application represents a major milestone for the £2bn regeneration project on the brownfield site behind York railway station. The application includes plans for nearly 1,000 new homes, a new green park for York, a western entrance to the railway station with a cycle hub and civic square, a 200-bed hotel and one of the UK’s largest new timber buildings.

Given the scale and significance of the application, the Civic Trust drew on expertise from across the city, organising a series of workshops drawing on the expertise of external architects, landscape designers, urban planners, transport specialists and members. Off the back of these meetings, the Trust submitted a detailed 60-page response strongly supporting the proposal.

Image credit: York Central Ltd

The Civic Trust welcomes the provision of public realm that is freely accessible to all, including a large new central park combining nature-rich habitats with community spaces and play areas, a new high street, and innovation in building construction and servicing.

If approved, York Civic Trust will be particularly interested in how the next design stages develop York Central as a new and integrated community within the city. It will also be important to ensure strong connections with the surrounding neighbourhoods. The Trust recommends that local communities are engaged in the ongoing design development of York Central, to create a new neighbourhood and community in York. Such collaborative work is important to ensure that this key opportunity for York meets the needs of existing and new residents.

Andrew Morrison, Chief Executive of York Civic Trust said: “York Central is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the city. It will shape how York grows and how people live, work and travel here for decades to come. We’ve worked closely with the team behind the project and brought together expertise from across York to look carefully at the plans.

We think it is important for the project to achieve a coherent design, that fits with the rest of York’s historic and modern built environment. What makes York so special is how streets such as Micklegate, Bishopthorpe Road and Stonegate have their own distinct feel yet fit together as a coherent whole. York Central ought to reflect the same principle: individual plots and buildings can have their own identity, while having a recognisable York character that feels part of the city, rather than a single uniform development.”

Alongside its support for the application, York Civic Trust has emphasised the importance of delivering consistently high-quality design across the site, ensuring that new housing is well integrated into the wider development and that social and affordable homes are distributed fairly and equitably across the emerging neighbourhoods. The Trust has also developed a comprehensive checklist of outcomes expected from the scheme and will continue to work constructively with the project team to support the delivery of these ambitions, alongside the many positive commitments set out by the developers within this Reserved Matters application.

Now in its 80th year, York Civic Trust is looking to the future and supports the aspirations of the York Central team to deliver a high-quality new neighbourhood for the city.

The post York Civic Trust submits its strong support for York Central planning application first appeared on York Civic Trust.

We have just launched Our Place: Acomb and Westfield, a new heritage outreach project inviting local people to explore, celebrate, and care for what makes their neighbourhood unique. The project launches in the Trust’s 80th year and Our Place: Acomb and Westfield is funded with the help of the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It begins on the 18 February and is based at Acomb Explore Library.

Working with residents, the project will uncover hidden gems, local memories, and untold stories, helping to build a stronger sense of place, pride, and connection across the communities of Acomb and Westfield. The project responds to evidence showing that fewer people in the area feel a strong sense of belonging compared to the city average, and that local heritage is often overlooked in wider narratives of York.

Acomb Explore Library

The project is based at Acomb Explore Library, where an interactive installation will be in place from February to August. The Trust invites residents to head to the library to share memories, nominate meaningful places, and highlight the buildings, spaces, and stories they feel deserve more recognition and care. The display will ask a variety of questions during its installation, starting with which buildings and places are important to the area’s residents.

Alongside the installation, there will be a programme of free community events throughout spring and summer, including creative workshops, guided ‘walkshops’, pop-up activities and community celebrations focused on local places and green spaces.

Heritage Grants

Later in the year, York Civic Trust will fund community-led heritage grants for projects in Acomb and Westfield that emerge as important during the first phase of the project. The initiative will also support the development of local heritage ambassadors, helping residents care for places they value beyond the life of the project.

Acomb and Westfield residents can take part in the project by heading to Acomb Explore Library from 18th February to share their views. They can also find out about upcoming workshops and events here:

The post York Civic Trust launches Our Place: Acomb and Westfield first appeared on York Civic Trust.

In a year when York will celebrate its past with the international Viking Festival, the Roman Festival in May, and the 900th anniversary of St William of York at York Minster, not all residents may feel these moments reflect their own sense of history. For many people, history is not only about Romans, Vikings, or medieval saints. It is about the places that shape everyday life – where they grew up, where they walk, shop, meet friends, or raise families.

Even though they live within the boundaries of the City of York, some residents may feel that “historic York” exists somewhere else, while the places they call home are rarely recognised as part of the city’s story. Many of York’s suburbs were, often for centuries, independent villages and even like Acomb in a different county. This long history and modern incorporation into York have an impact on people’s identity and even status within the city.

This year, York Civic Trust marks its 80th anniversary. Founded just after the Second World War, at a time of enormous change for the city, the Trust has long celebrated York’s rich past. But it has also focused on how York continues to evolve, and how people experience the city today.

While York’s international reputation brings clear benefits, particularly to the visitor economy, it does not always reflect the full and more complex picture of the city’s local history.

To address this, York Civic Trust is launching a new project, Our Place (made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund), working with communities to better understand the places, spaces, and structures that matter most to local people – especially in areas that are less visible in the city’s traditional heritage narratives.

We are beginning in Acomb and Westfield. The project launched on February 18 at the newly refurbished Explore Acomb Library (well worth a visit), and over the summer a programme of creative workshops, walks, and pop-up activities will invite residents to explore what makes these areas special.

Alongside places such as Tang Hall and Clifton, Acomb and Westfield are currently under-represented in the city’s Historic Environment Record and Local Heritage List. This does not reflect the depth of history and heritage that exists there.

All of us spend our lives interacting with places and spaces that, over time, become part of who we are. They shape how we move around, how we feel about where we live, and sometimes even our sense of wellbeing and identity. When these places change – or disappear – the impact can be deeply felt.

The routes we walk to school, the shops we visit, or the green spaces where we walk our dogs may be shared by thousands of people and have been used for generations. In York, alleyways and ginnels that look like modern shortcuts can, in fact, have been in use for over a thousand years. Areas of woodland or open space often have roots stretching back centuries, with names such as Batchelor Hill, Fishponds Wood, or Quaker Wood hinting at rich and layered pasts.

Even buildings that may be overlooked or unloved today can hold powerful meaning. They may once have housed important events, formed busy parades of shops, well-used pubs, or simply are the part of the everyday backdrop to community life.

York Civic Trust is keen to hear from anyone with views on what matters to them in Acomb and Westfield – particularly from those who might not usually think of heritage as something “for them”.

For this project, heritage means the things that still exist in our landscape today. They may only be 50 years old, but they can carry deep personal and collective significance for those who live and work nearby.

While Acomb’s medieval buildings and village green may appear more obviously historic, the inter-war and modern Chapelfields, Lowfield, and Foxwood estates are just as important to their communities and deserve recognition as part of York’s living history.

We would encourage anyone who would like to nominate a building, green space, ginnel, alley, or even a lamp post that matters to them to get involved – either by visiting Explore Acomb Library and adding your vote to our new display, or by going online:

Andrew Morrison,
Chief Executive, York Civic Trust

The post Acomb’s untold history – the places that make it special first appeared on York Civic Trust.

This strategy sets out our priorities for the decade ahead, building on landmark achievements from conserving historic buildings and expanding the Blue Plaque programme, to strengthening Fairfax House and investing in the next generation of heritage professionals.

We look forward to working with our Members, partners and communities to shape the city’s next chapter.

The post York Civic Trust’s Strategy first appeared on York Civic Trust.

Whilst the scale of what we look to dispose of is probably at its greatest, as residents we have been wrestling with waste for a thousand years. Whilst some rubbish was tidied away in Viking and medieval rubbish pits, deeply sought after by archaeologists, household scraps, butchery offcuts, craft and industrial waste and other daily detritus were often thrown into the city’s streets, lanes and rivers.

The River Foss was dammed in the 11th century to form the King’s Pool, a broad, shallow lake on the eastern side of the city between the Red Tower and Fishergate Postern. The margins of this slow-moving large expanse of water became a popular dumping ground for York’s medieval residents.

At times the water quality may have been so poor that even those who lived on the banks of the river did not eat a lot of the fish that could be caught in the river.

As the city grew, so did the health risks from contaminated water, vermin and foul air. Animal waste from pigs, horses and dogs as well as the city’s butchers was a constant issue for the city.

Residents in Hungate, probably named after being over-run with dogs, were regularly complaining about the areas being used as a “horrible rubbish shoot” for the butchers of the Shambles for their unsold and rotten meat. Streets were “filled and obstructed” with dung and other filth; Royal orders were issued requiring York to clear away the “abominable smell” for the sake of public health and visiting dignitaries!

By the 19th century, York – like many British towns – faced a full-blown public health challenge. National Public Health Acts pushed local authorities to take more responsibility for drains, nuisances and refuse. In York, this led to the creation of a Medical Officer of Health and the Inspector of Nuisances (perhaps one of the best job titles in York’s history).

Their report books, preserved at Explore York Archives, show inspectors dealing with overflowing middens, insanitary yards, badly drained houses and other public “nuisances” across the city. These officials didn’t just grumble in notebooks: they were part of a shifting attitude that saw cleanliness, drainage and refuse as civic responsibilities rather than private problems.

Part of York’s answer was the York Destructor. In 1899 the city built a refuse destructor and coal-fired power station at Foss Islands Road, complete with a huge octagonal brick chimney that still dominates the skyline today. Household rubbish collected from across the city was taken here to be burned.

The heat from the destructor’s furnaces powered its own boiler, which in turn drove machinery in the Corporation yard; surplus steam could be used by the electricity generating station. Whilst not doing much for air quality, it was an early example of turning waste into energy.

As the 20th century progressed, rubbish dumping became more organised, with civic amenity sites, recycling centres, and, eventually, the familiar wheelie bins and recycling box collections.

York’s terraces were not built with wheelie bins in mind, their narrow back lanes often leading to long journeys for householders leading to gangs of bins loitering on street corners. The city’s historic buildings are often permanently scarred by large commercial steel bins.

Consuming less would probably be a good start but also, we should look to innovate our rubbish disposal.

The modern cleaner version of the York Destructor, the Allerton Waste Recovery Park, can process up to about 320,000 tonnes of household waste annually, generating enough electricity for thousands of homes as well as sorting recyclables and sending biodegradable materials to an anaerobic digester to produce biogas.

Could we look to European cities for innovative solutions – underground rubbish storage collected by electric vehicles. Does York Central offer an opportunity for a new chapter? Can we build on St Nick’s cycle-powered door-step recycling?

York’s rubbish story is not glamorous, but it’s a story of learning, innovation and public responsibility. It reminds us – quite fittingly at Christmas – that caring for a city means looking after everything we leave behind, not just what we choose to celebrate.

Andrew Morrison
Chief Executive, York Civic Trust

The post It’s time to rethink York’s waste problem first appeared on York Civic Trust.

All three case studies in the series have been written by John Stevens, a geographer who generously brings his expertise to several Trust committees, including the Environment Committee, Transport Advisory Group and Planning Review Panel. In this third study, John turns his attention to Hungate, providing a clear and independent assessment of what was envisaged in the development brief, what was promised during the planning process, and what has actually been delivered on the ground. Throughout, the central question remains: has this development created a sustainable community?

John’s thoughtful analyses have already had a significant impact on shaping the Trust’s approach to new proposals coming forward for the city, including schemes associated with the newly approved Local Development Plan. They offer valuable insights into how York can grow in a way that strengthens its communities, public spaces, transport links, and environmental resilience.

The post Sustainable Communities Case Study: Hungate first appeared on York Civic Trust.