Trade routes in the British Isles
Jorvik's position meant that it was important for trade in England. It was also
on the direct sea-land-sea route between Scandinavia and the important Viking
town of Dublin, Ireland. Ships from Scandinavia could reach Jorvik by sailing up
the Humber estuary then up the River Ouse
to Jorvik. Goods would be bartered and exchanged at Jorvik, probably at a
wharf on the riverside. Some of the goods which had been brought from abroad
could be put on pack-horses, to be taken up the dales, across the Pennines, and
to the west coast, where they could be loaded on ships again, bound for Dublin
or other Vikings towns in Ireland such as Cork, Wexford, Waterford and Limerick.
We know that Jorvik had many connections with Dublin during the Viking Age. Some
of the Viking rulers of
the Kingdom of York came from Dublin and there must have been many political,
trade and family ties between the two places. Goods from Ireland, of course,
would go the other way, also being traded at or passing through Jorvik. Because
the Yorkshire Dales and Pennines were settled
partly by Scandinavians, this meant that that goods could safely travel
through 'friendly' territory for much of the way.
Jorvik's position also meant that it had good land links with other parts of
Britain. At a time when there were no proper roads (except perhaps some
badly-decayed stretches of old Roman roads), the only land travel was along
'green' tracks which had, as far as possible, to make use of the lower, gentler
valleys. The Vale of York, where
Jorvik is situated, is a broad, flat plain which leads from south to north,
right through the heart of northern England. This gave Jorvik fairly easy land
routes north to Scotland and south to other important Danelaw
towns such as Nottingham and Derby, and other towns in the English Midlands.
The Vikings were, of course, great users of water transport and, where land
routes were non-existent or difficult, they would make use of rivers. In
England, an inland
waterway route linked Jorvik with Lincoln, by the River Ouse, the Humber,
the River Trent and the Fossdyke (which is an artificial waterway, or canal,
thought to have been built by the Romans, though it may have been cut or
improved in Anglo-Scandinavian times).
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Trade routes in the British Isles
Trade routes abroad
What was made in Viking Age Jorvik (York) ?
Some things to find out and things to do
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