King Street, King’s Manor, King’s Square and Lord Mayor’s Walk
Continuing the exploration of York’s streets and buildings we go from K to L starting at King Street, one of the old Water Lanes that lead down to the River Ouse from the centre of the city. Then we head to the King’s Manor, one of the most important historic buildings in the city.
Also featured is King’s Square where Viking kings of York once held court and then we visit the King’s Staith, an old landing place on the Ouse. It’s not all about kings though. We can make mention of rogues and knaves who met their end at the Knavesmire and then head north to take a quick look at the Lord Mayor’s Walk just outside the city walls.
King Street
King Street leads from Clifford Street (opposite Coppergate) down to the Kings Staith waterfront on the River Ouse near Ouse Bridge.
Historically King Street was called ‘First Water Lane’ and in earlier times was called Cargate or Kergate, being recorded as ‘Kergathe’ in the late twelfth century. This name derives from the Scandinavian word ‘kiarr’ meaning ‘marsh’.
Also running down to the river from Clifford Street are neighbouring Cumberland Street and Low Friargate, which are respectively situated on the site of the medieval streets called Middle Water Lane and Far Water Lane. In early times Far Water Lane (Low Friar Street) had been called Hertergate from an Old Scandinavian personal name Hjǫrtr.
King’s Manor
The King’s Manor near Exhibition Square started as an abbot’s house for St Mary’s Abbey. The ruins of the abbey itself are nearby in the Museum Gardens.
The house was later rebuilt of brick in 1483 by a medieval bricklayer called Richard Cherryholme. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the Manor House became the home of the President of the Council of the North and successive presidents enlarged and changed the building, until the council was disbanded in 1641.
King’s Manor is so named because it belonged to the king and was the place where the Kings of England stayed during their visits to York. English Kings who stayed at the manor included Henry VIII, James I, Charles I and Charles II.
The King’s Manor is situated between York Art Gallery in Exhibition Square on its north side and the Yorkshire Museum on its south side. Today, the King’s Manor forms part of the University of York, and is home to the University’s Department of Archaeology.
King’s Manor is said to be haunted by a number of ghosts. They include an unidentified monk and quite separately, a Tudor lady dressed in green who is seen carrying roses. She is sometimes said to be Anne Boleyn, who once stayed here.
Also haunting the manor are the sounds of screaming soldiers who had limbs amputated in a makeshift hospital situated here during the Battle of Marston Moor. Additionally, a ghost sometimes appears on a staircase, where it is claimed he occasionally moves a portrait on the nearby wall.
King’s Square and Colliergate
King’s Square lies at the junction of several of York’s most notable streets including Petergate, Goodramgate, Colliergate and the Shambles. It is situated at what was once the site of the porta principalis sinistra, the eastern gate of the Roman legionary fortress of Eboracum. The gate was located somewhere near what is now the Petergate end of the square.
Later, the square is thought to have been the site of the Konungsgarthr or Royal palace (king’s court) of the Viking kings of York (Jorvik) which is recalled in the name of Kings Court that links the Square to the Shambles area.
Neighbouring Colliergate runs between King’s Square and Fossgate, and is almost a continuation of Petergate.
Colliergate is a narrow street of character that was once the place where coal or charcoal was traded in medieval times. It is relatively quite despite being at the heart of the city.
Today, most of the buildings in Colliergate are of Georgian origin and there are a number of interesting shops with neat-looking subtly-painted shop fronts. The street terminates at its south end in Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate.
Back in King’s Square, one of the attractions of York, situated in the square is the York Chocolate Story which opened in 2012. It tells the story of chocolate in general as well as the story of York’s links to the chocolate making industry.
York is famed for its confectionery, particularly through the York firm of Rowntree & co which was acquired by the Swiss firm Nestlé in 1988. York is also connected to confectionery through the firm of Terry, famed for its segmented ‘Chocolate Orange’.
King’s Staith
King’s Staith, a cobbled quay on the north bank of the River Ouse near Ouse Bridge means the ‘King’s landing place’ with ‘staith’ being a word of Viking origin. An eighteenth century building called Cumberland House (see Cumberland Street) overlooks the staith.
Further along the river bank towards Skeldergate Bridge is a stone wall that once belonged to a Franciscan Friary that was located nearby. On the opposite side of the river is Queen’s Staith.
Knavesmire and the York Tyburn
Knavesmire, home to York’s Racecourse may be named from boggy land where knaves or felons were executed. Another view, based on early occurrences of the name, is that it comes from a Viking personal name, Knorr. Most of the racecourse grandstand dates from 1964 but part of John Carr’s Grandstand of 1754 remains. Racing began here in 1731, conveniently attracting crowds who already assembled to watch the executions.
Neighbouring Tadcaster Road that skirts the Knavesmire was the gallows site of ‘York’s Tyburn’. Named from its London counterpart, the site at which criminals were hanged is marked by a stone. It was a triangular wooden structure nicknamed the ‘Three-Legged Mare’. Executions included religious martyrs as well as criminals and took place here from 1379 until 1801 when they were moved to York prison. Amongst those executed at York’s Tyburn was the highwayman Dick Turpin, hanged here in 1739.
Lendal and Lendal Bridge
Lendal, a street at the western end of St Helen’s Square where it joins Coney Street was originally ‘Old Coney Street’ or ‘Ould Connystrete alias Lendinge Street’. It is named after St Leonard’s Lendinge – a landing place on the River Ouse belonging to the medieval St Leonard’s Hospital. The remains of this hospital can still be seen near York Library and Archives to the north.
Lendal runs from St Helen’s Square to its intersection with Museum Street that leads across the Ouse via Lendal Bridge. Lendal’s most notable buildings are The Judges Lodging of 1718-25 and Lendal House, a former Congregational Chapel dating from 1816. An Augustinian priory once existed between Lendal and the River Ouse near the York Guildhall.
Lendal Bridge was built across the River Ouse by Thomas Page in 1863 and is an iron bridge with Gothic details. Page also built York’s Skeldergate Bridge. Lendal Bridge links Station Road with Museum Street on the north bank of the Ouse and is the main point of entry into the city for tourists and commuters arriving via the railway station.
Historic towers stand near both ends of the bridge. On the south bank of the River Ouse is Barker Tower, named after Barkers who stripped oak bark for use in tanning.
A street called Tanners Moat is situated nearby just below the approach to Lendal Bridge. This street reaches the waterfront at Wellington Row where there are views across the river to the York Guildhall.
A little to the south, along the waterfront of the River Ouse, Wellington Row becomes North Street where it is joined from the south east by Tanner Row, another reference to the tanning industry.
Tanner Row was the street of the tanners and more or less follows the course of a Roman road between York and Tadcaster which passed through the Roman walls of the city near Micklegate Bar.
A ferry ran across the Ouse from here towards Lendal Tower and there was once a chain across the river between the two towers that prevented trading vessels from entering the city without paying tolls.
Lendal Tower was made taller in the seventeenth century using stone from the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey.
Lord Mayor’s Walk
Lord Mayor’s Walk runs west-to-east from the top of Gillygate and parallel to the north western section of the city walls. Like Gillygate it lies outside the city walls. It is the location for York St John’s University, a college with a history dating back to 1841.
A rather nice feature of Lord Mayor’s Walk towards the Monkgate end of the street is a preserved old-fashioned advert for Bile Beans. They apparently “keep you healthy, bright-eyed and slim”.
- A-B : Aldwark to Bootham
- C-E : Castlegate, Coppergate, Exhibition Square
- F-J : Fossgate, Fishergate, Goodramgate
- K-L : King Street, King’s Square, Lord Mayor’s Walk
- M-O : Marygate, the abbey, Micklegate, Ousegate
- P : Patrick Pool, Pavement, High and Low Petergate
- S-W : Shambles, Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate
- Y : York City Walls | York Minster | York Origins
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