St Leonard's Place 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 ...

, in England.

History

The site street lay mostly within the walls of 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 ultimate ...

, and two Anglo-Saxon carved stones and a large coin hoard have been discovered in excavations in the area. The location formed part of

St Leonard's Hospital St Leonard's Hospital may refer to: * St Leonard's Hospital, Ferndown, a community hospital in Dorset * St Leonard's Hospital, Hackney St Leonard's Hospital is a hospital in Hackney, North London. History The hospital was founded as the infir ...

in the Mediaeval period, which from 1546 until 1698 was a

royal mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...

, leading to the area becoming known as "Mint Yard". In 1675, Mint Yard was bought by the Corporation of York, for £543. The construction of the street was proposed in 1831, with the intention that it would be built up with "genteel private residences". The street runs across the line of the

York city walls York has, since Roman times, been defended by walls of one form or another. To this day, substantial portions of the walls remain, and York has more miles of intact wall than any other city in England. They are known variously as York City Wa ...

, a section of which were demolished, along with the

barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

of Bootham Bar. Although there were plans to entirely demolish Bootham Bar, this did not occur. The street opened in 1835, and construction of the houses was completed in 1842. In 1844 workmen digging a drain discovered a

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of c.10,000 Northumbrian stycas, many of which were subsequently sold privately. However a portion of the hoard is now part of the collection at the

Yorkshire Museum The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It was opened in 1830, and has five permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology, numismatics and astronomy. History The museum was founded by the Yorkshire Philosophical Soc ...

. The expense of constructing the street left the York Corporation in debt. This included paving the street with

Macadam Macadam is a type of road construction, pioneered by Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam around 1820, in which crushed stone is placed in shallow, convex layers and compacted thoroughly. A binding layer of stone dust (crushed stone from the o ...

, and providing a new facade for the

York Theatre Royal York Theatre Royal is a theatre in St Leonard's Place, in York, England, which dates back to 1744. The theatre currently seats 750 people. Whilst the theatre is traditionally a proscenium theatre, it was reconfigured for a season in 2011 to offer ...

, which had previously faced Little Blake Street, but from 1835 had its main entrance on St Leonard's Place. The street became a popular area for entertainment, with the York Subscription Library opening in 1836, the Yorkshire Club operating for a time at 5 St Leonard's Place, and the De Grey Rooms, used for concerts and meetings, opening in 1842. The new

York and North Midland Railway The York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) was an English railway company that opened in 1839 connecting York with the Leeds and Selby Railway, and in 1840 extended this line to meet the North Midland Railway at Normanton near Leeds. Its first c ...

opened its head office on the street. Initial residents included the Recorder of York, C. H. Elsby; the town clerk, Robert Davies; and the architect John Harper. In 1933, the 99-year leases on many houses on the street expired, and the Corporation of York then turned the street's main terrace into council offices. It left the terrace in 2013, after which it was converted back into housing. The street forms part of York's inner ring road, and although the council have investigated pedestrianising it, this would require provision of an alternative route, including a new bridge across the River Ouse.

Layout and architecture

The street runs north, from the junction of Blake Street,

Duncombe Place Duncombe Place is a street in the city centre of York, in England. History The street was first mentioned in 1346 as Lop Lane, and it later became known as Little Blake Street. Initially a very narrow street, the eastern entrance to St Leonard ...

and

Museum Street Museum Street is a street in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, England. To the north is the British Museum, hence its current name. The street is populated by cafes and bookshops to appeal to the international museum-going p ...

, gently curving to

Exhibition Square Exhibition Square is an open space in the city centre of York, England. History The area covered by the square lay immediately outside the walls of Roman Eboracum and the Mediaeval York city walls, but within the walls of neighbouring St Mar ...

, where it meets High Petergate and

Bootham Bootham is a street in the city of York, in England, leading north out of the city centre. It is also the name of the small district surrounding the street. History The street runs along a ridge of slightly higher ground east of the River Ous ...

. Much of the western side of the street is taken up by the terrace of 1-9 St Leonard's Place, designed by John Harper and completed in 1834. There is also a small garden with a stretch of the Roman city wall, before the street opens up into Exhibition Square. On the eastern side lie De Grey House, completed in 1835, and for many years from 1909 the York Conservative Club; the De Grey Rooms; and the York Theatre Royal.

References

{{Streets of York Streets in York