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 (pictured below).

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 draws visitors from across the country and it has excellent reviews on TripAdvisor.

One recent visitor said: “What a beautiful quaint place this is full of charm and atmosphere. Lovely little shops with all sorts of goods from whitby jet to broomsticks great place to visit.”

Another person added: “What a great place to visit and gawk in all the shop windows. It is a magical place well worth exploring.

”Some of the Harry Potter themed shops had lines waiting to get in but most shops were very approachable if not a bit crowded.”

If you’re planning a visit, be aware that the Shambles gets very crowded during the day, especially in the summer months.

The Shambles is located in the centre of York, and is a 15-minute walk from the train station.

Notable buildings

Almost all the buildings on the street are listed - meaning they are officially designated as being of architectural or historical importance and having protection from demolition.

On the east side, 1 Shambles is timber-framed and probably 14th century; 2 Shambles is early 18th century; and 3-5 Shamble are all 19th century, one initially serving as the former Shoulder of Mutton pub.

On the west side, 27-28 Shambles were built in the early 19th century; 30 Shambles is 18th-century but largely rebuilt in 1952; and 31-33 Shambles were built as a terrace in about 1436.

During your visit to the historic city of York, don’t forget to check out York Minster - one of the world’s most magnificent cathedrals.

York Minster (pictured below) is the largest medieval Gothic cathedral north of the Alps.

Visitors can also climb the 275 steps passed gothic grotesques to reach the highest point in York – York Minster’s Central Tower – for panoramic views of the city.

It’s well worth a visit!

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