York Shambles
The Shambles is one of the best-preserved medieval streets in Europe and one of the most visited locations in York, a narrow lane of overhanging timber-framed buildings whose upper storeys project so far over the street that the buildings on opposite sides almost meet overhead, creating a dim, enclosed passage quite unlike anything else surviving in England. The street lies in the heart of York's medieval core a short walk from the Minster, and its character is so complete and so evocative of the medieval urban environment that walking through it genuinely transports the imagination to a different century. The name Shambles comes from the Anglo-Saxon word shammel, referring to the shelves or stalls on which butchers displayed their meat for sale. In medieval York the Shambles was the dedicated street of the butchers' trade, and the wide sills projecting below the windows of most buildings were originally the display surfaces where cuts of meat were laid out for customers. The hooks for hanging carcasses can still be seen fixed to the exterior of several buildings, and the street's gradient was designed to allow the blood and offal from the butchery trade to drain away downhill, a practical arrangement that reflects both the commercial organisation of medieval York and the hygienic concerns of its authorities. The buildings themselves range in date from the late medieval period through the sixteenth century, with the characteristic jettied construction in which each successive upper floor projects further over the street than the one below. This style of construction was practical for several reasons: it increased the floor area of upper storeys without requiring a wider footprint at ground level, it protected the timber frame structure of the ground floor walls from rain, and it demonstrated the wealth and ambition of the building's owner through the conspicuous use of structural timber. Today the Shambles houses a range of small independent shops, cafés and tourist-oriented businesses that reflect the commercial continuity of the street across seven centuries, even if the butchery trade has long since departed. The adjacent Shambles Market, a daily covered market selling food, crafts and local produce, extends the commercial character of the area into the surrounding streets.