York and The Judge’s Lodging Hotel – Review

By Clare Jenkins, February 2025

There’s a lot to be said for visiting York out of season. For starters, you can walk along the medieval Shambles without having to – well, shamble, behind a throng of tourists eager to spot either a bargain, a ghost or a wizard. You can absorb the wonders of the Minster without disturbing people’s selfies. And you can really take in the history of the city: the Roman streets and plaques to places like the Praetorium Gate (the original Roman entrance), the medieval statues on the Minster, the winding snickelways, the 17th Century painted figures and signs above some of the doorways (‘The Holy Bible 1682’ outside one boutique, for instance), and the jetties, or overhanging first-floor windows.

There’s also a dark side to York: a side of would-be Royal assassins (Guy Fawkes), highwaymen (Dick Turpin), martyrs (the Blessed Margaret Clitherow, crushed to death for harbouring Roman Catholic priests in the time of Elizabeth 1)… The side of executions, massacres, rotting heads stuck on poles outside the city walls, graves at every turn, dark prisons and even darker dungeons.

So, bearing all that in mind, what better place to stay than The Judge’s Lodging on Lendal, directly opposite The House of Trembling Madness ‘medieval ale house’?

Reception

“Scholarly touches”

This handsome Grade 1 listed Georgian townhouse, set back from the street and with a double row of steps leading up to a finely carved doorway (complete with stone head of the Greek god of healing), was built in the early 1700s for a well-to-do local physician. A century later, it became the residence for High Court judges attending the quarterly assizes at York Castle’s criminal court – a role it held until 1976.

Now owned by the Lancashire-based Daniel Thwaites brewery, the 21-bedroom hotel retains much of its original elegance and character, with extra modern touches. These include a covered front courtyard complete with heaters, candles and tasteful fake fur throws over the chairs, and occasional displays of quirky wallpaper (monkeys in a jungle, birds’ feathers). The chandelier in Reception cleverly represents a judicial mallet or gavel while one wall is covered in plaster carvings of a bewigged judge. Portraits of other judges, old and new, line the self-supporting spiral staircase, and there’s a row of servants’ bells and rooms such as The Doctor’s Office, named to reflect their previous use. Ours, The Judge’s Drawing Room, looks over rooftops towards the Minster, whose bells we occasionally hear in the distance.

The atmosphere of a refined gentleman’s residence continues in the high ceilings, gilt-topped pillars, panelled walls, sloping floors and such scholarly touches as a set of framed pen nibs. The décor, too, is in keeping: soft paintwork, warmly-coloured armchairs, plump cushions, thick floor to ceiling curtains, tweedy fabrics… And, in our room, a life-size (and rather soulful-looking) statue of a dog in the original fireplace.

The staircase

“Beauty”

It’s all extremely comfortable but we forego the temptation to stay put as we have an appointment with Art, thanks to our Visit York Pass. The Van Gogh ‘Immersive Experience’ in York St Mary’s, Castlegate, is an almost hallucinogenic experience, the church filled with swirling coloured lighting, gyrating sunflowers, shimmering wheatfields, towering cypresses and foliage climbing up the walls as the paintings comes to life. Along with a shimmering soundtrack – which includes the sounds of thunder, lightning and cawing crows – are quotes from the artist, including ‘I put my heart and soul into my work and I lost my mind in the process… If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere…’

We certainly find beauty in The Judge’s Lodging. We have dinner in its homely Cellar Bar – originally the judges’ wine cellar -, with its vaulted ceiling, cosy corners, wooden tables and collection of old books. There’s a good selection of veggie dishes both here and in the 1711 restaurant, as well as a range of steaks, burgers and such classics as fish ‘n chips and pies.

We’re tempted by the sharing mezze plate of baked Camembert, artichoke, grilled courgette, olives, beetroot, mixed peppers, hummus, mixed salad and focaccia – but instead share just olives and hummus for starters. That’s followed by a delicious sweet potato and celeriac stew for me, while my husband (a former restaurant reviewer) chooses the roasted vegetable salad with butternut squash, new potatoes, vine tomatoes, parsnips and feta. “That’s the best meal out I’ve had in years,” he says – and a filling one. Sadly there’s no room for the sticky toffee pudding, chocolate bomb or Eton mess that are among the desserts.

Ravioli from the restaurant

“Fascinating displays”

The next morning, we take the City Sightseeing bus from nearby Exhibition Square, inadvertently continuing the crime and punishment theme. Nigel, our onboard guide, tells us about the York Dungeon, the city’s 19 churches and their accompanying graveyards. “There are 50 cemeteries inside the city’s walls,” he says, microphone ever in hand. “Five hundred skeletons, mostly Jewish, were found where the Sainsbury’s car park is now, and thousands of bodies are still buried inside the city.”

We get off at Clifford’s Tower – “built on the site of a Bronze Age burial mound and a Roman cemetery…’ – and head over to the celebrated Castle Museum, housed in a former 18th Century prison. After weaving our way through fascinating displays of objects associated with fashion and diet, the First World War and the 1960s, and along atmospherically recreated Victorian streets, we end up ‘below stairs’, in cells and corridors that trace the city’s 1,000-year history of justice.

There’s graffiti on the walls made by convicts awaiting transportation or execution, and a display of leg irons, manacles, branding irons and cat o’ nine tails. Some of the cells have no access to daylight, others feature holograms of the people who served time in them. Mary Burgon, for instance, bore a son, Tom, to a ‘turnkey’ (warden) but had to leave him behind, aged just four, when she was freed in 1710.

A room inside The Judge’s Lodging Hotel

“Lovely place”

Another hologram shows Dick Turpin, swaggering, well-dressed and cocky, in the very cell where he was led out to be hanged. A third tells the story of Elizabeth Boardingham, the last woman in England to be strangled and burnt at the stake. Between 1705 and 1835, around 15,000 men and women were imprisoned here, half of whom were eventually found not guilty. Of the rest, 4,000 were transported overseas, a further 500 were executed in the city. Yes, there’s a dark side to York all right. But at least the judges trying them had a lovely place to retreat to after their trials.

Rooms at The Judge’s Lodging start at £165 per night B&B. The Judge’s Lodgings, 9 Lendal, York YO1 8AQ: 01904-638733, judgeslodgingyork.co.uk
The Visit York Pass includes entrance to the Castle Museum, Van Gogh Immersive Experience and many other attractions, plus access to the York City Sightseeing tours: yorkpass.com
yorkstmarys.org.uk
yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk
yorkcitysightseeing.com