The Shambles

The Shambles in York has been voted Britain’s most picturesque street ! *

Whether that’s true or not, The Shambles is certainly the most famous street in York, providing an iconic image of Elizabethan England.

History of the York Shambles

In Elizabethan times each profession and trade tended to be located around one particular area of town. Some streets were full of candlemakers, or bakers, or blacksmiths. The Shambles was York’s butchers’ street.

The first thing you notice when you walk down The Shambles is how close together the buildings are, and how almost the entire street is in the shadows. This is no accident. The houses were designed this way to limit the amount of sunlight at street level, thereby protecting the meat in the butchers’ shops from direct sunlight.

As you walk down the Shambles, take a look at the way the shops are designed – the front windows have wide bays that were used as display shelves for meat, and some of the buildings still have hooks where they used to hang the meat from.

York Shambles

Another reason why houses were designed in this way was the lack of sanitation. Before the advent of modern sanitation in Victorian times, it was common practice to “slop out”…which was exactly as it sounded! Residents would take their bucket of “slop” and chuck it “out” of the window in to the street below. Life as a pedestrian was a hazardous business in those days, so the tiered design of the upper floors at least gave you a fighting chance of avoiding the falling debris!

Nowadays there aren’t any butchers shops left in the Shambles, and they have even installed sanitation! Shops now predominantly sell jewellery, crafts, tourist souvenirs and food.

Chapel of Margaret Clitherow

Visit the small chapel commemorating the canonised Margaret Clitherow of York, who was brutally executed in 1583, crushed by an 800-pound weight, for refusing to renounce her Catholic faith.

* The Shambles was voted the UK’s most picturesque street by Google StreetView Awards 2010

Visitor Information for The Shambles

Proximity to Minster – 400 metres; 5 minutes walk

Holiday In York | The Shambles

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