Walk Around the Snickelways of York

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The Minister features majestic architecture, including a Gothic nave and a Perpendicular Gothic quire. The 1408 Great East Window is the largest expanse of stained glass in the world. Each lancet in the magnificent Five Sisters Window is 53 feet tall. A gorgeous rose window graces the south transept. The design of the west window is known as The Heart of Yorkshire. St Helen's Square is an open space in the city centre of York. During the Roman era, Eboracum's south-western gate, the porta praetorian, lay where the square is now located. The square is an important junction, with Coney Street leading from its southern corner, Lendal from the west, both Blake Street and Stonegate from the north, and Davygate from the east. The Shambles – a medieval street, one of York’s oldest; formerly a meat market lined with butcher shops, hence the name. The buildings have a typical overhang of that period. Armed with a copy of Jones's book, we headed for Bootham Bar, one of the entrances through York's ancient walls. The gateways through York's walls are called bars and Bootham Bar is the oldest, marking a nearly 2,000 year old Roman way into the city. The walk begins and ends at Bootham Bar. There’s a couple of great pubs near here, the Lamb & Lion (recently renamed the Fat Badger) and down the road the Guy Fawkes. I’ve eaten and stayed in both and can throughly recommend them. Almost immediately you disappear into the gap by the Hole in the Wall and you’re far from the crowds, hidden away, lost in time. You’ll get an excellent view of the Minster near the end of this passage. At Christmas it chimes carols for hours.

The street was first recorded in about 1150, as "Cuningstrete", the King's Street. The use of "street" rather than "gate" suggests that the name dates from the Anglian period, and two coin hoards from the period were found in the 1760s. Visitors will find a shrine to Saint Margaret Clitherow on this street. Known as the "Pearl of York," she was martyred in 1586 for refusing to enter a plea to the charge of harboring Catholic priests. Saint Margaret Clitherow was married to a butcher and lived on The Shambles. A vibrant city with Roman roots and a Viking past, York has played a central role throughout much of England‘s history. Despite its small size, Old Town York boasts a wealth of colorful heritage that draws tourists in droves from all over the world. To make a trip through the old capital of England’s north a little easier, here some of the essential stops to make along the way: York Minster – the second-largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe and one of the tallest buildings in the city, as prescribed by the ancient local law.

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If it should need saying, there’s no need to do all 48 in one go, if you’re pressed for time or are easily distracted like me. The street roughly follows the line of an old Roman road, which ran between what are now St Helen's Square and York Minster.

The Shambles is a historic street. Shambles refers to a meat market, and several streets with butcher shops are named The Shambles. Butcher stalls in this area were named in the 1086 Doomsday Book. The oldest buildings that line The Shambles today were built in the 14th century, and most were built by 1475. By 1426 the street was known as the Great Flesh Shambles, and later the street name was shortened to The Shambles. You can pre-book online here. 6. Find York’s ‘secret garden’ the Treasurer’s House Gardens Credit: Treasurer’s House The fact is, this gem of a city has so many medieval treasures and so many twisting lanes and alleys that it is really possible, to simply lose one or two of them. Other medieval cities like London, had walls, of course, but only fragments remain in most. In York, large sections of the medieval walls remain and are very walkable.

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Before we arrived in York, we'd read about the Barley Hall - a recently discovered medieval townhousethat had been lost in the middle of the medieval city of York.

Many of the streetnames have changed over the centuries but York does a reasonable job remembering the old ways. But not Grape Lane. When you see a streetname like that you can be sure it has nothing to do with fruit. Sadly there’s no sign here saying ‘Formerly Grapcunt Lane’, grap being the Old English word for grope, as this was once a street you could pay a sex worker. The lane has been thoroughly bowdlerised. More’s the pity in my opinion. The south-western side of the square is occupied by the Mansion House, and there is also access to the York Guildhall, which can be seen through a gateway. On the north-western side, both the former Yorkshire Insurance Company and York County Savings Bank buildings were constructed in the mid-19th century and are now listed historical buildings, with the remainder of this side occupied by St Helen's Church.If you were unaware of York’s many narrow, medieval streets, it would be easy to walk past them without noticing a thing. But these delightfully named hidden passages allow you to seemingly magically transport from one street to another, avoiding the tourist crowds. If you find yourself on the sections by the river at dusk, either by the Ouse (round St Martins church, or Kings Staith) or the sections by the Foss, keep an eye out for bats. York has lots of them, although of course you won’t see them in winter.

The map is a close approximation to the way described in the book, and the path I walked. However, a few shortcuts (like the in and outsin the Shambles,) were difficult to map. Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate – one of, if not the, smallest street in York; the name means "What a street!" or, the latest version, "Neither one thing nor the other". The York Minister is an impressive cathedral with a long and storied history. The Romans settled here and named the area Eboracum in 71 AD. King Edwin was baptized in a small wooden church here in 625. A stone church was built, and King Edwin was buried in the stone church in 633. In 1088, a new Minister was built. The Minister was expanded between 1154 and 1225. In 1328, the York Minister hosted a royal wedding between King Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. This narrow street features overhanging buildings, and some areas are so skinny that visitors can touch both sides of the street at once. The overhanging buildings would have sheltered the walls below and protected the display meat from the sun. Running parallel to Pope’s Head Alley, Peter Lane connects Market Street and High Ousegate as well. Its entrance islocated on the other side of the Lakeland shop on High Ousegate, between Lakeland and Byron.The York Minister is one of the most impressive churches in Northern Europe. It was one of the few Catholic churches not destroyed by Henry VIII, as he wanted to convert it to an Anglican church. The soaring nave, impressive towers, storied history, and Gothic architecture are the highlight of any York visit. Pope's Head Alley, measuring only 80cm wide this is one of the narrowest and darkest of York's streets. Francis Drake mentions it briefly in 'Eboracum', his history of the city. It is a favoured haunt of many of the ghost walks in the city. The transepts feature wooden roofs. The nave was completed in 1350 and is England's widest Gothic nave. The central tower is 235 feet tall (72 meters). The choir is 102 feet tall (31 meters). The octagonal Chapter House was built in 1280 and features wonderful stone carvings. York’s cathedral church is one of the finest pieces of architecture in the world. Its tower is the highest point in York and can be seen from most places in the city. The Minster, one of the world’s most magnificent cathedrals, itself has a charge to enter, but you can enjoy the exterior of the medieval building as well as the gardens that sit to the left of the ancient building. Deangate, York YO1 7HH