The Wheatsheaf Inn, Davygate, York, says the caption on this wonderful 1899 photograph. Um, yes, but where exactly is the pub? It isn't obvious in the photo...

The answer is that it was accessible through the dark passageway immediately above the carthorse's neck (magnify the image and you can just make out the inn's name on the board above the passage). The pub could also be reached through an alley off Davygate, though it had no frontage on either Davygate or St Sampson's Square.

This photo comes from the Evelyn Collection of historical images of York held by the Yorkshire Architectural & York Archaeological Society. It shows the corner of St Sampson's Square and Davygate, where Browns is today, in 1899. The scene looks very different today, however. The building occupied by AT Howell in the photograph was demolished in about 1900 to facilitate the widening of Davygate.