Medieval Walls

What it’s like

Climb a medieval tower's spiral staircase, work a model portcullis and sow wildflower seeds up on the ramparts.

Fishergate Postern Tower opens up on set days each year, and the main event is the climb itself: a proper spiral staircase up to the top, the kind that makes kids feel like they've earned the view. Once you're up there you can have a go at working a model portcullis, which is a nice hands-on touch rather than another glass case with a label.

There's a genuinely odd bit of medieval life on show too, the garderobe, which is a fancy word for a toilet, and it tends to be the fact that gets repeated at the dinner table afterwards. Outside on the ramparts there's a quieter side to the visit: spotting wildflowers, learning a bit about moths, and sowing your own wildflower seeds into pots made from recycled newspaper to take home.

It runs 10am to 4pm on the open days, and given it's a tower rather than a modern visitor centre, wheelchair access only stretches to the ground floor. That's worth knowing before you commit to it if stairs are an issue for anyone in your group, since the staircase is very much the point of going up.

Need to know

Wheelchairs

Partial access: ground floor only at Fishergate Postern Tower

• The tower only opens on specific open days each year, not every day
• The staircase is a proper spiral one, so it's not buggy friendly going up
• The wildflower seed activity uses recycled newspaper pots, a nice extra for younger kids
• Wheelchair access is ground floor only

Plan your visit

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