After years of campaigning, a landmark moment in the history of York’s Jewish community has been approved.

Jewbury – the medieval Jewish cemetery that now lies beneath a multi-storey car park – has been granted protected status as a Scheduled Monument by the Government, following expert advice from Historic England, the support of the Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe, and the dedicated efforts of members of York Liberal Jewish Community (YLJC) including its Warden Howard Duckworth.

Howard Duckworth (right) with Rabbi Herschel Gluck of the Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe

Speaking to That’s TV York, Howard said: “This is an important site for Judaism. It is the largest Jewish medieval graveyard in Europe. It was forgotten, then remembered, and now it’s been really remembered.”

This recognition promises to bring greater awareness and preservation to a significant site that has largely remained hidden from public view.

The cemetery, in use between 1170 and 1290, holds the remains of around 5,000 individuals, including 150 men, women and children who perished in the 1190 massacre at Clifford’s Tower – one of the darkest episodes of antisemitic violence in medieval Britain. Its official protection serves as a testament to York’s enduring Jewish legacy.

Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England, said: “The scheduling of Jewbury recognises the exceptional historical and cultural significance of this site. Medieval Jewish Cemeteries are very rare, with only ten having been positively identified in England, and none are as extensively understood as this one. It represents an irreplaceable archaeological and cultural resource that deserves protection.”

York Liberal Jewish Community has made many moments of history since it brought Jewish life back to the city in 2014 including, in 2023, the appointment of York’s first resident rabbi in 800 years.

• Top picture: General view along the south-west wall of the Fossbank Car Park, showing the Jewbury Cemetery Plaque in the foreground, commemorating the site of the medieval Jewish cemetery of York. © Historic England Archive.