Micklegate Bar - Proof of York

Micklegate Bar is the towering four-story stone gatehouse that once served as the primary entrance to York for royalty arriving from London. Its heavy portcullis and thick wooden doors guarded the city for centuries. For many years, the spiked heads of executed traitors were displayed on the roof, rotting in the open air as a grim warning to anyone challenging the Crown. That practice ended in seventeen fifty-four, when the last head was finally removed from its metal pole.