Stonegate
On Gingerguide's self-guided York audio tour, Stonegate is a stop worth about ~15 min. Stand in front of it, press play for a short narrated story, and put any follow-up question to the built-in AI guide.
- Type historic
- Suggested visit ~15 min
- York York guide
About Stonegate
York's handsomest old street, running up to the Minster along a buried Roman road, a thousand-year parade of shopfronts, printers' signs and the famous inn sign slung right across the street.
Stonegate is one of York's oldest and finest streets, running from St Helen's Square up toward the Minster, lined with medieval and later timber-framed shopfronts. It follows the line of the Roman Via Praetoria, a main street of the fortress of Eboracum, which survives about six feet beneath the pavement, running from the fortress headquarters to the river bridge. Recorded as 'Stonegate' by 1119 (the '-gate' from the Old Norse for 'street'), its name derives either from its early stone paving or from the stone hauled along it to build the Minster. Long a street of goldsmiths, glass-painters, printers and booksellers, it keeps a small red 'printer's devil' figure at No. 33 and, hung across the whole street, the 18th-century sign of Ye Olde Starre Inne. A 12th-century Norman House survives off it. It lies within the historic city of York.
Did you know? Stonegate runs along a Roman road: about six feet beneath the cobbles lies the Via Praetoria of the fortress of Eboracum, and the modern street still follows its dead-straight line after 2,000 years.
How much time do you need at Stonegate?
Around ~15 min works well for Stonegate — time to look properly and listen to its story on the spot. Linger if you like; nothing on a self-guided walk is on a clock.
Should you stop at Stonegate?
Yes — Stonegate made the cut as one of 18 places the Gingerguide team researched and narrated across York. The story tells you why it is worth the stop, and the AI guide fills in anything you still wonder.
Nearby stops in York
Hear the story of Stonegate
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