A back lane is a roadway often found in a planned medieval village running parallel to the main street at the other end of

burgage plots Burgage is a medieval land term used in Great Britain and Ireland, well established by the 13th century. A burgage was a town ("borough" or " burgh") rental property (to use modern terms), owned by a king or lord. The property ("burgage tenemen ...

. There may be a back lane on each side of the main street which, together with the main street itself, provides a rectangular framework for the development of the village. Although the burgage plot was used for small-scale activities such as livestock or orchards, the back lane frequently divided the village from the main agricultural area such as the open fields. The name frequently survives as a street name in a much enlarged urban settlement (there is an example in

Wheldrake Wheldrake is a village and civil parish located south-east of York. Administratively it is in the unitary authority of the City of York in North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,909, increasing t ...

), but it is common for the back lane to be reduced to a narrow pathway. A back lane, laneway,

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in the older parts of towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane ...

or back alley is also a service or access road behind houses or, in a commercial district, which was created for deliveries and parking, amongst other things.

References

Landscape history Types of roads {{road-stub