A scheme to repave footways on historic Stonegate will not now be finished until early next year.
The scheme started on January 3 and was planned to be completed within nine weeks. But problems with private cellars underneath the street meant the scheme had to be extended. The council has now confirmed that further work has been postponed and the scheme - intended to 'enhance the street’s appearance and character, creating a more pedestrian-friendly environment' -will not now completed until early 2023.
A blow for many, perhaps - but it's probably not wise to rush things on what is one of the prettiest and most historic streets in the city.
Great play has always been made about the fact that Stonegate is, appropriately enough, paved with York stone. But, despite its name, it hasn't always been so. As recently as Victorian times, it was actually paved with neat stone setts, or blocks - as one of our photos today clearly shows.
Stonegate in 1890, when it was paved with setts, or stone blocks. Picture: Explore York
The layout of the street dates back to Roman times - six feet below the pavement lies the Roman Via Praetoria, which connected the Roman fortress to the Roman bridge over the River Ouse.
But the street probably owes its name to the fact that, in medieval times, it was used to carry vast quantities of stone from the river for the building of the Minster.
The street later became a centre for goldsmiths, printers and glass painters.
Among the most famous of the latter in modern times was the stained glass workshop of JW Knowles and Sons at 35 Stonegate, founded by John Knowles in the 1860s and active until well into the 1900s.
The wonderful Explore York digital archive from which most of our photos today come include several images showing both the inside and the outside of the famous workshop in the early 1900s. We have included several here..
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