The York Ghost Merchants: The Shambles, York
The York Ghost Merchants in The Shambles is the only ghost merchants still trading in the 21st century.
For a truly one-of-a-kind souvenir, the York Ghost Merchants is the place to go.
Select a cute ghoul figurine from the hundreds on display in this Georgian-styled shop.
Try them out in the staging area, name them and take one home.
The ghosts are made on the premises - each one is unique with its own colours and decoration.
The shop can be found in number 6 Shambles - one of Europe's best-preserved medieval streets.
The ancient city of York has a reputation for being the most haunted city in Europe, perhaps even the world.
There is rich tradition here of ghost story-telling which stretches back for many centuries.
Ghosts are an integral although undeniably obscure part of the city’s story - York Ghosts are firmly embedded in this history.
The shop, which was built in 1780 is, at first glance, a very traditional store with a clear Georgian heritage and theme, with oak-panelled walls and display cases.
But from the moment intrigued customers step across the threshold, it becomes clear that this is a place where history and myth, heritage and legend overlap to intriguing effect.
The obscure tradition of ghost making has now been resurrected to create a range of handcrafted ghosts, which can be purchased exclusively from the Shambles-based store as an unusual souvenir or lucky charm for visitors to take back home.
Every ghost is unique, made on the premises, and comes in its own travelling box which has been designed to replicate the York Ghost Merchants store.
Over 1000 ghosts in two sizes are displayed at any one time on the store’s shelving.
When a purchaser finds the ghost that calls to them, they are invited to take a photograph in a specially lit and ornately lined pedestal compartment hidden in a panelled wall, before it is carefully packed into its travel box for transportation to its new home.
The York Ghost Merchants is open daily, usually from around 10am until early evening, though times may vary according to other-worldly demands.
Someone who recently visited the store said: “Loved this little shop-truly unique. I saw the queue yesterday and was intrigued as to what it was about.
”It is off season so the wait today was only about 40 minutes and the staff kept us well entertained in the queue.
”The ghosts are reasonably priced and I loved taking photos of mine in “The Shambles”. Lovely packaging too.”
Another person, who went in March 2024, said: “Amazing little shop packed full of ghosts.
”So many to choose from! Staff were friendly. A great experience. I visited at 4pm on a Sunday and only had to que for 30 mins.”
They offer two sizes of Ghost, The Original at 8cm tall and the Little at 5cm tall..
The Original Ghosts are £18 Little Ghosts £9. The Polished Ghosts are £28 and £15 accordingly.
York - the ‘most haunted place in Europe’
York is a city with a dark past, its history is rife with tales of guts, gore, torture and ghosts.
The International Ghost Research Foundation once even declared York as the most haunted city in Europe due to its bloodstained history and over 500 hauntings within the ancient city walls.
Founded by Romans in 71AD the city's violent and volatile history – including Viking invasions, the Norman Conquest and the Civil War – makes its sinister legacy easy to understand.
Sometimes, it seems as though a ghostly figure with a score to settle is in residence in just about every street or ginnel.
The Shambles, York: One of Europe's best-preserved medieval streets
The Shambles in York is commonly known as one of the best-preserved medieval shopping streets in Europe.
It's a narrow street of mostly timber buildings that date back as far as the 13th century.
The street itself is mentioned in the Domesday Book, so we know that it has been in continuous existence for over 900 years.
There are 27 listed building in The Shambles, including 10 listed Grade II* and another 17 listed Grade II.
The Shambles has the effect of a time machine, transporting you back to the Elizabethan period!
The street was previously named the 'Most Picturesque Street in Britain' in the Google Street View Awards for 2010.
More than 11,000 voters selected The Shambles from a shortlist of 51 historic streets selected by a panel of experts.
The distinct architecture of the ancient street is a unique blend of medieval and Elizabethan styles.
The overhanging timber-framed buildings create a canopy effect, almost touching at the top and giving the street its unmistakable charm.
The lower floors, once vibrant market stalls, have evolved into quaint shops, tearooms, and boutiques, attracting tourists from around the country.
In certain parts of the Shambles you are able to stand with one hand on either side of the street.
With its cobbled streets and overhanging buildings, it is also believed to have been the inspiration behind Diagon Alley from the movie adaptation of the Harry Potter series.
Today, it’s home to four Harry Potter themed shops selling merchandise, but they can get busy at times!
Although none of the original shop-fronts have survived from medieval times, some properties still have exterior wooden shelves, reminders of when cuts of meat were served from the open windows.
Lacking modern-day sanitation facilities, there was a constant problem of how to dispose of the waste produced by the slaughter of animals in the city.
The street was made narrow by design to keep the meat out of direct sunlight, but you can readily imagine the Shambles packed with people and awash with offal and discarded bones.
The pavements are raised either side of the cobbled street to form a channel where the butchers would wash away their offal and blood twice a week.
When butchering took place, the guts, offal and blood were thrown into the street runnels that had a natural slope which helped it wash away after rain.
These butchering practices long predated basic modern standards of hygiene and the street would have been incredibly unhygienic in these days.
The last butcher shops on the street closed in the early 20th century and although the butchers have now vanished, a number of the shops on the street still have meat-hooks hanging outside and, below them, shelves on which meat was displayed.
The projecting upper storeys had a very practical purpose too; they helped keep the rain off goods laid out for sale in the merchants' stalls below.
And, of course, they helped provide larger living quarters above the shops without needing to pay for more street frontage.
The name (The Shambles) is thought to derive from ‘Shammel’, an anglo-saxon word for the shelves which were a prominent feature of the open shop-fronts.
There were originally churches at each end of the Shambles too.
Holy Trinity, King's Square stood at the western end and St Crux, Pavement at the eastern end.
However, both churches were pulled down, St Crux on 1887 and Holy Trinity in 1936.
Previously, there were also five ‘snickleways’ that led off the Shambles and they use to be small alleyways in the backs of the buildings.
But since these back buildings were demolished in the 1950s, they now open out onto a big open space with market stalls known as Shambles Market.
The market was previously known as Newgate Market, after the street on which it is located, but was renamed in 2015.
The 1940s and 1950s were a period when the Shambles was subject to a lot more change.
After World War II, the street was targeted by city planners who wanted to make improvements to the buildings which by that time were in urgent need of restoration.
York City Council purchased numerous properties from private owners and, during the 1950s, they extensively altered and rebuilt many buildings and demolished large sections of the area.
This included the entirety of Little Shambles, a short street that led west off the centre which was considered to be beyond repair.
Today, some of these restorations are seen as insensitive, since a great deal of historic fabric, including slaughterhouses and outbuildings at the rear of the properties, was demolished.
In 1885, thirty-one butchers’ shops were located along the street, but none remain today.
However, a number of the shops on the street still have meat-hooks hanging outside and, below them, shelves on which meat would have been displayed.
The shops currently include a mixture of eateries and gift shops, but there is also a ghost shop, sweet shop and a coin shop.
The Yorkshire Architectural and York Archaeological Society's annual report of 1949 contains plans of The Shambles showing the buildings to be removed.
Today, The Shambles continues draws visitors from across the country.
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