York Walls in Bloom extends to Red Tower and Queen Street

This summer, residents and visitors will be able to experience areas of the city walls from a fresh perspective, as this unique and historic space blooms into life.

Volunteers and businesses from across the city came together last year to help transform the City Walls embankments, for the first phase of the York Walls in Bloom project.

This first phase of this project at Station Rise will evolve into a beautiful  landscape this Summer, where residents and visitors will be able to see bees and other pollinators thriving amidst a sea of colourful wildflowers.

The second phase of the project will be extended to the Red Tower, off Foss Islands Road and at Queen Street, near York Station.

After wildflowers are sown and planted in April for the second phase, there will be some flowering this year, but next year (2026) will see each area looking its best.

Like Station Rise, the area around Red Tower will be very carefully managed to balance the ecology of the site. The space will continue to change and develop in the first few years as the different plant species become more established. 

The works on Queen Street, around ‘Toft’s Tower’, provides a unique opportunity to enhance another section of walls by introducing new native flowers, so they create the perfect backdrop for both the city walls and new streetscape near the railway station.

Cllr Jenny Kent, Executive Member for Environment and Climate Emergency, said: “York is proud to have some of the best preserved and longest intact medieval walls in the country. This partnership project to cover the site at Station Rise in colourful wildflowers for York Walls in Bloom will not only look beautiful, but it will also help support York’s bees, moths and butterflies and crucially, help preserve the ramparts underneath. We are lucky to have expert advice from many partners who are contributing to a process of reviewing our maintenance of the walls overall. We’ll adopt the very best practices to prevent soil erosion and ensure we keep the Walls standing and looking great for generations to come.”

Jonathan Dent, Green Corridors Manager at St Nicks, said: “Works will begin at the Red Tower from this month, with low nutrient soil imported and spread over the site to create a blank canvas for the sowing and planting of native wildflowers. This is the method successfully used at the Tower of London’s Moat in Bloom project. With the help of York Cares, volunteers from across the city will come together to support the project and help sow the seeds.”

The York in Bloom project is funded by the Green Corridors project , the National Lottery Community Fund and is sponsored by local businesses including The Grand York.

For more information about the project visit:   www.york.gov.uk/YorkWallsInBloom