YORK residents are being invited to help to one of the city's darkest hours.

A lantern-lit service will be held at Clifford’s Tower on Wednesday (March 16) to mark the anniversary of the 1190 massacre of an estimated 150 Jewish people in York.

The event is organised by the Holocaust Memorial Day Steering Group and will include a statement about the events of 1190, read on behalf of the city by the Lord Mayor.

At the time, York's population of Jews had taken refuge inside the then wooden tower from a rampaging anti-Semitic mob.

Seeing no possibility of escape, many of the unfortunate Jews chose to die by their own hand, while those who surrendered were put to death by the mob.

The Lord Mayor of York, Cllr Sonja Crisp said: “This event is a shared remembrance of the massacre of Jewish people at York Castle (now Clifford’s Tower) in 1190.

"It is important that we mark such an event on the site where it took place and everyone is welcome to come along and share in this simple, candle-lit ceremony of readings and prayer.”

Wednesday's commemoration will also feature music and readings, while Dr Sarah Rees Jones, professor of medieval history at the University of York, will speak on ‘The Jews of York in 1190’.

The event is free and those attending are invited to meet at Clifford’s Tower at 6.30pm.

Ben Drake, from the Holocaust Memorial Day Steering Group, will welcome guests.

At the end of the event at around 7.30pm, he will invite those present to lay stones by the side of the plaque at the foot of Clifford’s Tower.

Meanwhile, the massacre is also the subject of the next talk in York St John University’s History Public Lecture Series on Tuesday (March 15).

Professor Amos Kiewe, from Syracuse University in New York, will present 'The Public Memory of the Massacre in York'.

Dr Graeme Callister, lecturer in history at York St John University, said: “It will discuss the evolving trauma of this local event, for both victims and victimisers, and will show how Clifford’s Tower as a site of violence and trauma functions as a site of contention with multiple meanings and interpretations.”

The free event is open to all and takes place at 6pm in the De Grey Lecture Theatre on Lord Mayor’s Walk.