Hungate is a street in the city centre of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, England, and the area surrounding it. Notable buildings in the wider Hungate area include the city's central telephone exchange.

History

The area in which the street lies was largely marshland in the Roman

Eboracum Eboracum () was a fort and later a city in the Roman province of Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the Western Roman Empire and ultimat ...

period, although to its west there was a quay on the

River Foss The River Foss is in North Yorkshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Ouse. It rises in the Foss Crooks Woods near Oulston Reservoir close to the village of Yearsley and runs south through the Vale of York to the Ouse in the centre of ...

, and there were also some defensive ditches. The street was first recorded in the late-12th century as "Hundegat in Mersch", and was also known as "Merske Street". To its west was the

York Carmelite Friary York Carmelite Friary was a friary in York, North Yorkshire, England, that was established in about 1250, moved to its permanent site in 1295 and was surrendered in 1538. The original site was on Bootham in York until 1295 when William de Vescy ...

, while St John's in the Marsh Church was constructed near the southern end of the street, although this was sold off in 1550. The hall of the Cordwainers' Company lay on the street, but it was sold off and demolished when the company was dissolved, in 1808. In 1837, a

gas works A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space. Early gasworks Coal ...

was constructed at the south-eastern end of the street by the York Union Gas Light Company. By 1840, the street was regarded as a slum, and in 1901 it was one of the key areas covered by

Seebohm Rowntree Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree, CH (7 July 1871 – 7 October 1954) was an English sociological researcher, social reformer and industrialist. He is known in particular for his three York studies of poverty conducted in 1899, 1935, and 1951. The fi ...

's study, Poverty, A Study of Town Life. These buildings were cleared in 1936, and from 1950 its northern end was truncated as the Stonebow was constructed. In 2009, construction started on a major mixed-use scheme in the area, including offices, housing, shops, a community space, and a bridge across the

. As part of the scheme, a five-year archaeological investigation was conducted, the largest ever in the city.

Layout and architecture

Telephone_exchange,_The_Stonebow,_York_(geograph_4915351)

The street runs south east from the Stonebow. Carmelite Street leads off its south-west side, and Palmer Lane off its north-east side. Historically, it extended further north-west, to a junction with St Saviourgate, and further south-east, to reach the River Foss, and had junctions with more streets, including Garden Place.

References

{{Streets of York Streets in York