The History of York website tells us about the coat-of-arms:
The Corporation minutes of 1st February 1587 note that the Lord Mayor had received the Coat of Arms of the City, drawn on parchment, from the Queen's Herald of Arms. York's coat of arms is now all over the city and is one of its best known brands but its meaning is rarely explained.
There are two or three variations, but they all contain the red cross of St George, suggesting the city's religious connections, and five gold lions of England, emphasising its strong support of the English royal line. That was an important political statement for a city often at the centre of rebellions and wars with Scotland.
In heraldic terms, the five lions are 'passant', meaning that they are walking, and 'guardant', meaning their heads are turned to face the viewer. They are active and aware.
The coat of arms is often shown with the civic sword and mace behind it - these represent the city's powers of self-government under the mayor. A sword was given to the city by Richard II in 1387, which was allowed to be carried before the mayor on ceremonial occasions, and a charter in 1396 gave the right for a mace to be carried too.
Finally the arms are often topped by a 'chapeau' - which represents the cap of maintenance worn by the bearer of the civic sword. This symbolic cap was first given to the city in 1393, also by Richard II.
The coat-of-arms is above a plaque that reads:
A doi m.cccc
lxxx vii Sr Willm
Tod knight
mayre this wal
was mayd in his
days lx yadys
The meaning of this is given in the text, below from the History of York website.
The History of York website tells us about the bar:
Fishergate Bar is one of six gateways in the city walls. It faces South towards Selby. Nearby used to be the large flooded area known as the King’s Fishpond.
‘Barram Fishergate’ is the first documented reference to the bar, in 1315. A central stone above the archway reveals the date of the current bar. It contains the York coat of arms and an inscription which reads:
‘A.doi m.cccc.lxxx.vii Sr Willm Tod knight mayre this wal was mayd in his days lx yadys’
This tells us that sixty yards of the wall, including the bar, was built in 1487 under Sir William Tod, mayor of York.
But just two years later, in 1489, Fishergate Bar suffered considerable damage in the Yorkshire peasants’ revolt against Henry VII. The rebels burned the gates of the bar after murdering the Earl of Northumberland. The gateway was bricked up soon after and wasn’t re-opened until 1834, to give better access for the cattle market.
The York History website adds:
Fishergate Bar is a one storey gateway on the York Walls, originally forming the entrance to the city from Selby. The first documented evidence of Fishergate Bar is from 1315 when the building was known as “Barram Fishergate”. There was evidence of the house over the gateway from 1440 and records show that Richard Morton looked after the building in 1453. In later years, there is also evidence that the building has been used as a prison.
In 1489 however, King Henry VII had requested that taxes were levied to pay for the defence of the country. Some in the north objected to this taxation, given that they already paid taxation on a local basis, and the rising of the commons in the north began. York’s authorities attempted to defend the King, but Sir John Egremont was able to force his way into the city via Fishergate Bar, and the gate was damaged by both fire and rioting. After this, to prevent any repeat, the Bar was bricked up later that year.
Fishergate Bar was reopened in 1827 when new stairs were constructed and other improvements made. Whilst discussing the reopening, the local press noted the perilous state of the walls in that area, and how need of repair there were.
The parapet has a stone which marks the 60 yards of city wall which was built in 1487 by Sir William Todd, the Lord Mayor of York, and the stone also has the York coat of arms carved into it.
In 1839, it was reported that the council had received a complaint from the landlord of the City Arms Inn that he was not able to cultivate the land by Fishergate Bar into gardens. The council refused to extend his tenancy of the inn, saying that the area must remain grassed to maintain the look of the local area.
In 1844, the local commissioners discussed the extension of Neutgate Lane, which meant that a row of houses had to be demolished. The reason given was that the opening up of Fishergate Bar in the 1820s had caused a serious increase in traffic in the area.
In 1878, it was announced that a new series of tramways should be constructed in York, and one of the routes was “A tramway commencing at the village of Fulford, passing along the Selby Road into George Street through the Fishergate Bar, along Walmgate as far as Foss Bridge”.
Some restorations were made to the gate in 1961 and the gate now is blocked to traffic, but is accessible to both pedestrians and cyclists.