2-649-609 - Historic England/Heritage Images

Clifford's Tower, 1190, (c1990-2010). Burning of the Wooden Tower during the massacre of the Jews in 1190. Reconstruction drawing. Clifford's Tower, the largest remaining part of York Castle, once the centre of government for the north of England. The 11th-century timber tower on top of the earth mound was burned down in 1190, after York's Jewish community, some 150 strong, was besieged here by a mob and committed mass suicide. The present 13th-century stone tower was probably used as a treasury and later as a prison.