Shambles

One of the world's most famous streets

The Shambles in York (officially just ‘Shambles’) is a narrow street of mostly timber buildings that date back as far as the 13th Century. The street was originally home to butchers, with each shop specialising in a different meat. While the street is still home to a butcher, the rest of the street is now filled with a bright mix of mostly independent retailers.

A trip to the Shambles is a must for any visit to York. York continually tops polls as a beautiful city, to live work and visit. When it does, it is the Shambles that is featured on the accompanying photographs.

A street with a colourful history...

Although we only have one butcher left, 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 street has a colourful history that led to one former resident, Margaret Clitherow, becoming a Catholic Saint. She was tortured and executed for harbouring a Catholic Priest during the time of Reformation. Her husband was a butcher on the street and they lived as a family above the shop.

Just some of our amazing businesses