IN PICTURES: The history of York's Pavement

Hidden amongst the photographs is a cutting from what looks like an old book of guided walks around York.

"Pavement, possibly the first paved street in the City, was previously called Marketshire, identifying it as one of the two general markets in the City - the other, Thursday Market, was held in what is now St Sampson's Square."

Sadly, there is nothing to indicate where this clipping came from. The only other reference we could find to Pavement once having been called Marketshire came in the online 'Historical Gazzetteer of England's Place Names', which contained the following brief note: "Marketshire (Smaller street) located in the County town of York." It gives the dates as the early 1300s.

That seems about right because, according to most reports, this ancient street has been known as Pavement since the late 1300s. According to the Jorvik: Discovering York website, it was renamed Pavement in 1378 because it was "the first walkway to be paved in York out of all its medieval streets."

As its original name of Marketshire suggests, the street was a central point in the medieval city: a place for markets, gatherings, announcements and - when necessary - punishments.

Thomas Percy, the Earl of Northumberland, was beheaded here in August 1572, apparently for leading a failed uprising against Queen Elizabeth 1. According to York tour guide Alicia Stabler - perhaps better known by her tour name of 'Mad Alice' - his head was put on a spike at Micklegate Bar, while his headless body was buried in an unmarked grave at St Crux.

At one point St Crux (literally 'Holy Cross') was the largest medieval parish church in York. An 'Italianate' tower was added in 1697 - a curious structure with an odd little dome at the top, which can just be made out in our oldest photo today, which is thought to show Pavement in the mid 1800s.

In 1736, according to the History of York website, Francis Drake (the historian and author of Eboracum, not the English pirate and sea captain) described the tower as a "handsome new steeple of brick coined with stone." But by Victorian times it was considered unsightly by many.

By this time, many of the wealthy local residents who had paid for the maintenance of the church had moved away to the suburbs. The tower apparently began to lean dangerously, the church was declared unsafe - and in 1887 it was demolished.

The east end of Pavement in 1949. The Old George Hotel was later demolished to make way for Stonebow

Our photos today stretch from that very early picture in the mid 1800s showing St Crux before it was pulled down up to to the 1960s.

At least two date from before part of Pavement was knocked through to create Piccadilly.

One, dated in the mid 1880s, shows the old advertising offices of the York Herald, before they moved to Coney Street where the newspaper itself was based; another, dated 20 or so years later, shows that by the turn of the century this building had been taken over by corn and potato merchants Isaac Poad & Sons (whose head office was in Walmgate, where The Press is now based).

January 1965 and the line of people is the queue for the buses which used to stop at Pavement
 January 1965 and the line of people is the queue for the buses which used to stop at Pavement

Other notable businesses to have been based in the street more recently - and which you can see on various of the other photographs - include grocer JB Collinson & Sons; the Old George Hotel (demolished in the 1950s to make way for Stonebow); the Embassy Studios (offering 'portraits of distinction' and also demolished to make way for Stonebow); the Creamery restaurant; the Golden Fleece (of course); and the Pavement Vaults.

Collinson’s grocery shop in Pavement. The date is unknown