2025 planning revisions for the Castle and Eye of York
In July 2025, the council submitted amendments to the existing planning application for new public spaces and blue badge parking at the current Castle car park and the Eye of York. The design was informed by extensive engagement with residents and stakeholders about what they want to see in the area.
You can view the planning application via the Planning Portal, quoting reference number 22/00209/FULM.
We have broken the site down into sub-areas to help us explain the scheme; the former car park and river edge, the area around Clifford’s Tower and the Eye of York:
Image showing the three sub-areas that form the revised planning application (source: BDP)
Watch a full fly-through of the Castle and Eye of York site.
See details of the 2025 planning application's proposals:
- Recap
- Engagement and design development
- The revised design
- Former car park and river edge
- Clifford’s Tower
- Eye of York
- Key differences
- Find out more and have your say
- Next steps
Recap
In November 2023 the City of York Council Executive re-aligned the scheme with the new council’s priorities. Their recommendations were for:
- greener space with children’s play provision
- retention of 30 blue badge parking spaces that currently exist within the Castle car park
- lower delivery and maintenance costs
The proposals seek to enhance the strengths of the Castle and Eye of York area as an important historical asset and re-establish it as a key destination of heritage and cultural activity. As well as connecting this area to other parts of the city.
Engagement and design development
The Regeneration team have been working with BDP to develop a revised design for the area, based on the Executive recommendations above, and taking into account the principles of the Council Plan, the city’s Our City Centre Vision, the Castle Gateway masterplan, the My Castle Gateway public brief, and feedback from the engagement on the revised concept designs in summer 2024.
The feedback highlighted the following key themes which have informed the detailed design and are outlined in more detail in the My Castle Gateway November 2024 blog:
- parking and accessibility
- movement and connectivity
- heritage, uses and telling stories
- play and getting close to the Foss
- usage and economy
- maintenance and funding
Following feedback on the concept designs and projected costings for the scheme, our design team created a more prominent play space, accessible for all, simpler layout, with less paving, a less dominant car park, a smaller planted area due to concerns around maintenance, and a simpler design for the Eye of York.
The revised design
The revised design is built upon three key pillars:
- Create a new greenspace - for residents and visitors providing respite from the busy city centre streets, including seating; play space; places for remembrance and small-scale community events.
- Designed for all - an accessible and inclusive site, including blue badge parking; regraded access routes; accessible seating and play area.
- Tell York’s story - the scheme has a responsibility to tell the story of this important location, including the confluence between the River Ouse and the River Foss; the 1190 massacre; a place from which northern Britain was controlled; medieval fortification; Georgian and Victorian prisons.
The site’s stories will be told in a variety of ways, including spaces for reflection and features along the radial walk to show significant events. At the next stage, a working group of historians and stakeholders will be set up to consider which stories need to be told across the site.
Former car park and river edge
The first area is currently occupied by the Castle car park and reaches across to the River Foss.
Watch a fly-through of the proposals for the Castle car park area and river edge.
Proposed design
Castlegate Square is a place of arrival from Castlegate and the Coppergate Centre with a wide level pedestrian crossing and views across the site. A vehicular access point services the shops and the blue badge parking.
Castle Approach will reinstate a clear route towards the Castle Museum and Clifford’s Tower from the city. This walkway is historically significant in following the footsteps of those who died in the 1190 massacre, and also in the context of power and authority as it was a processional route for judges.
Illustrative sketch from Castlegate Square along the Castle Approach path. (source: BDP)
Thirty blue badge parking spaces are included to retain the current level of provision, including two electric vehicle charging points. Accessibility is a central element of the Council Plan and Our City Centre vision. City centre access studies have emphasised the importance of blue badge parking bays in this location due to its proximity to the city centre and cultural facilities.
The remainder of the Castle car park site will be transformed into a new public space including places to sit, play, open lawn, planting, and trees to buffer the parking area and create shade. The open lawn offers a versatile space and could host small installations that form part of a city-wide trail or exhibition.
Illustrative sketch showing the view from Castle Approach towards the proposed open green space. (source: BDP)
The detailed design for the play space will be part of the next stage, but the aim is to create a distinctive, inclusive, and heritage-inspired play space that celebrates the unique history of the site. The play area will be a welcoming and exciting destination for families, facilitating learning, and connection across all generations of York’s residents.
The new space will have power and water points available to enable small pop-ups and communities to use at certain times of the year.
Castlegate Garden is shown in the location of the former castle entrance. Sculptural walls echo the historic castle gateway and will provide seating and an opportunity for people to pause in the space near ‘the drop’.
The Drop refers to the former execution site at the end of the Female Prison (now York Castle Museum). The doors that led to the hanging platform are still visible today. This is a historically sensitive site and has been created as a place for reflection with planting and seating.
Illustrative sketch showing the proposed Castlegate Garden. (source: BDP)
Riverside garden alongside the water’s edge, a linear green corridor connecting the wooded area behind the Female Prison and the Coppergate Centre.
Riverside walk will open up the river edge of the site along the top of the Georgian prison walls. This would include seating, planting and viewing points, so people can get close to the River Foss to view the river and Clifford’s Tower.
The river corridor has ecological value and provides a range of habitats, therefore the existing vegetation and trees will be retained where possible.
Illustrative sketch showing river edge, proposed riverside path and blue badge parking. (source: BDP)
Clifford's Tower
The second area includes Clifford’s Tower which is the largest surviving part of York Castle and stands on a prominent grass mound.
Watch the flythrough of the proposed area around Clifford’s Tower.
Proposed design
Radial path - a new circular walk around the base of Clifford’s Tower mound will add to the experience of visiting Clifford’s tower, allowing level access for wheelchairs. The path will have a reflective and peaceful character, where key historical events will be told and can be remembered.
Illustrative sketch showing proposed circular walk around the base of Clifford’s Tower motte. (source: BDP)
A ‘swathe of planting’ will reinterpret the historic moat and water which once surrounded Clifford’s Tower and the Castle. Planting has been reduced across the site since the last scheme in response to concerns about maintenance.
A simplified reconfigured Tower Street, will see improvements at the junction with Castlegate, giving pedestrians priority. Blue badge parking will be relocated to the opposite side of the road away from the base of Clifford’s Tower. A dual loading bay and taxi rank will be located in front of the hotel.
An 1190 memorial space is shown near to the entrance of Clifford’s Tower to honour the memory of the lives lost in the 1190 Jewish massacre. The space features planting and seating to provide a peaceful environment for reflection and remembrance. Telling the story of this important event in this area will form part of wider storey telling work to commence at the next stage. Updating the wording of the plaque at the bottom of Clifford’s Tower steps where people can participate in the Jewish tradition of laying stones as an act of commemoration is being explored with English Heritage and York Liberal Jewish Community.
Illustrative sketch showing the proposed planting and seating. (source: BDP)
Eye of York
The third area is known as the Eye of York which is the round space enclosed by the York Castle Museum (the former Female Prison and Debtors’ Prisons) and the York Crown Court.
Watch a flythrough of the proposed Eye of York.
Proposed design
The Eye of York design has been simplified but still respects the adjacent buildings and uses:
- space near the Crown Court - a planted edge to the court to create a quieter area
- space fronting Clifford’s Tower - an arrival area where people can congregate (school groups, processions or events) and access the central lawn
- space fronting Castle Museum - an area with edge seating which opens onto the steps of the female prison building and could be used for outdoor exhibits, small scale performance, or an outdoor café
The central tree and lawn will be retained creating a point around which people can gather. The space is designed to be outward looking, responding to the surrounding buildings and their associated importance and heritage.
A new path wraps around the green space and expands the lawn area, reducing the road width to create a more people friendly space with seating and planting. Some of the plant species could contribute to the site’s storytelling and histories of the Prison and Court.
Vehicle access is restricted to the court and museum and provision for taxis. A small amount of parking will be retained to enable the Crown Court to operate.
Illustrative sketch showing the Eye of York with proposed seating and planting. (source: BDP)
Key differences
Key differences from the 2022 application are:
- the water fountains are replaced by a play area
- the boardwalk behind the museum linking the scheme with Castle Mills and Piccadilly has been replaced with an aspiration to connect through in some form in the future
- the large paved events space is replaced by green space and blue badge parking
- the simpler scheme lowers overall delivery and maintenance costs
In summary, the Castle car park will be removed and will become a new green and inclusive public space called the ‘Castle Gardens’, combining the former car park and riverside, Clifford’s Tower and the Eye of York areas.
The revised design is simpler, more cohesive and the whole scheme will be delivered now rather than phasing the development.
Find out more and have your say
- read the latest blogs on My Castle Gateway
- watch a video with the landscape architect talking through the proposed designs
- the previous Castle and Eye of York planning application February 2022 can also be viewed as a point of reference
You can view the Castle and Eye of York planning application via the Planning Portal quoting reference number 22/00209/FULM. You can comment supporting or objecting to this application as part of the statutory planning consultation via:
- the Planning Portal
- email: planning.comments@york.gov.uk
- post: Development Management, City of York Council, West Offices, York YO1 6GA
You can also keep up to date by following My Castle Gateway on Facebook and My Castle Gateway on Instagram.
Next steps
A report will be considered by the council’s Executive in autumn 2025 prior to commencement of delivery. The report will seek a decision to close Castle car park, approval to procure a contractor to deliver the scheme, set the delivery budget and timeframe, and provide updates on the other Castle Gateway schemes.