Shambles, York

I came across a placard just before we began wandering down The Shambles and quotes:

"The ancient street of the Butchers of York, mentioned in the Domesday Book of William the Conqueror. It takes its name from the word, 'shamel'. meaning the stalls or benches on which the meat was displayed - later versions of which can still be seen. It was rebuilt about 1400, when it assumed its present character"

The Shambles is one of the oldest streets in York. It was once know as "The Great Flesh Shambles" adopted from the Anglo-Saxon Fleshammels meaning meat shelves that butchers used for hanging their meat. The street was once dominated by butchers but nowadays it is full of independent and souvenir shops.

Look out the St Margaret Clitherow shrine, who married a butcher who owned a shop on The Shambles. There are the old meat-hooks hanging outside a number of shop; there are snickelways that lead off from The Shambles and the street's cobbled street.

In English, a shambles is a generally disorganised mess, as in my late Mother's eternal lament to the teenage planxty, "Clean up your room, it's a shambles." Far from being the admittedly untidy disaster that constituted my portion of the house, the Shambles in York has recently been voted "Most picturesque street in Britain" by no less than the Google Street Team, and who am I to argue with them?

There is dispute about the actual derivation of the word "Shambles" but it is agreed that they were effectively open-air slaughterhouses and butcheries. Sadly, no butchers now grace the street, having all been replaced by, frankly, twee tourist shops but it is still well worth a visit to view the architecture, some of which dates to the 14th century. You will be in good company as you will be jostled at every step by tourists. Perhaps they should rename it Kodak Alley.

In the shambles there is a small shrine deidcated to St. Maragaret Clitherow. She was a marytyr of the catholic church who harboured catholic priests in times when they were persecutioned. On Good Friday 1586, she was sentenced to death and died in a horrible way: She was crushed to death by a door on which a heavy stone was placed. Two sons a a daughter became catholic clerics after her death. In 1929, shea was beatified and canonised in 1970. The shrine in the shambles was the houses where she lived and was also one of the two houses where she harboured the priests. It is not only a place of prayer, but you can also learn about the life of Margaret Clitherow. Admission is free, but a donation of 1GBP is expected.

For more information about St. Margaret Clitherow, see the link below

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The Shambles are well-known as Europe’s best preserved medieval street with many half-timbered buildings. The narrow street was already mentioned in the Doomsday Book and was the place where the butchers had their shops. With some fantasy, you can imagine how it smelled some hundred years ago… The name comes from the anglo-saxon word fleshammels which can be freely traduced as butchers. Despite being famous as a medieval street, most of the buildings preserved today are from Tudor times. Even in 1872, still 26 butcher shops were counted in this street. Today, it is a street full of souvenir shops, cafés and other tourist-oriented venues. Even though its touristy and full in summer season, it is definitively worth a visit.

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The Shambles is a fantastic Medieval street, dating from the 14th Century. It has been mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086. The name means 'street of butchers'and is derived from 'fleshammels' which were ledges outside the shops for displaying meat. The close overhanging houses provided shade to prevent the meat from going off. Nowadays you'll find a wonderfull variety of independant shops from Jewellers to a lovely looking Chocolate shop.

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The Shambles is a great lane that was once the home to the City's Butcher's were the annimals which would have been kept at the back of the shops would be slaughtered and cut up and sold. The wide gunnels in the road would once have been full of the waste as the blood and offal be thrown into the street where mixing with other waste and water to run away. The street is said to be Europes best preserved Medieval street and it was even mentioned in the Doomsday book.
It now houses some great chocolateas well as other specialist shops.

Halfway down is a shrine to Margeret Clitheroe who was a Butchers wife and a Roman Catholic at the time when Catholics were persecuted for their faith. She was arrested and tried for sheltering Jesuit priests and fior celebrating Mass. She was executed in 1586 on the Ouse Bridge by being crushed to death under a door with heavy boulders placed on it.

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If going to York one need not to miss a small area or rather street of the city called The Shambles. Notorious are the timber houses. Some of the buildings date back to the 15th century. A long time ago the place used to be a meat market.

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The Shambles is a narrow medieval street, a few minutes walk from York Minster. It was mentioned in the Doomsday Book under it's Latin name - In Marcello. The word Shambles derives from the medieval word Shamel meaning bench or booth. It was a street of butchers and in 1872 the number of butchers recorded was 26.

It is now a tourist spot with many shops, and if you look up you can see how at the far end of the street the buildings were so close you can imagine people shaking hands across the street from an upstairs window.