Richard III Experience at Monk Bar

53°57′46″N 1°04′42″W / 53.96278°N 1.078471°W / 53.96278; -1.078471

Monk Bar
location within York

The Richard III Experience at Monk Bar (formerly known as the Richard III Museum) was located in Monk Bar, the tallest of the four gatehouses in the historical city walls of York, England. It described the life of Richard III, the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty.

The museum explored Richard's early life, and the battles that raged between the houses of Lancaster and York during the Wars of the Roses. It described his reign and his death at the Battle of Bosworth, alongside multimedia presentations about the key battles of the Wars of the Roses.[1] There was also arms and armour from his reign, including the only known fragment of a gun from that period.[2]

In 2014, the York Archaeological Trust's Jorvik Group (which operates the Jorvik Viking Centre) took over the space within Monk Bar that had housed the Richard III Museum since 1993, and created "The Richard III Experience at Monk Bar". They also replaced the contents of the Micklegate Bar Museum and created "The Henry VII Experience at Micklegate Bar".[3][4]

The museum, along with other visitor attractions operated by the Jorvik Group, closed in 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the group's larger sites reopened in July 2020 the Richard III and Henry VII experiences remained closed owing to their limited capacity for social distancing.[5][6] The Henry VII Experience was replaced by the City Walls Experience which opened in April 2022.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Father-of-two who founded York's Richard III Museum dies, aged 55". York Press. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  2. ^ Clark, Matt (13 March 2015). "Exploded fragment of War of the Roses gun goes on show at new Richard III exhibition". York Press. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  3. ^ Wise, Pete (3 April 2014). "First look: York's two new museums see Richard III take on Henry VII". YorkMix. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Wars of the Roses: the UK's 10 best heritage sites". The Daily Telegraph. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  5. ^ Jefferson-Brown, Nadia (14 August 2020). "Here's how some of the biggest names in York are bouncing back after lockdown". The Press. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  6. ^ "New tourist attraction to open inside York's historic city walls next month". The Yorkshire Post. 23 March 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  7. ^ Horner, Ed (1 April 2022). "New visitor attraction opens in York's historic gatehouse". The Press. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
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