Micklegate photo from the 1880s - look how it has changed!

This photo was taken in the 1880s and shows the junction of Micklegate, North Street and Skeldergate.

It looks quite different today - apart from St John's church which dominates the right hand side of the photo.

Today it is a cocktail bar - formerly The Parish, now called Jalou.

Turn back the time dial further and many of you will remember it the York Arts Centre; before that, it was the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies.

The same scene today showing Mickelgate and Skeldergate with Jalou cocktail bar now housed in the church

It's full name as a church was The Church of St John The Evangelist. The base of the tower dates from the 12th century but the church was extended and added to several times over the next few hundred years. The distinctive small brick and timber tower with the unusual pyramid roof dates from the mid 16th century, when it was added to replace an earlier tower which had collapsed.

St John's church in 1969

The church was fully restored in 1850 by George Fowler Jones, when the south porch was added and the east end rebuilt.

The church closed in 1934, and the building has had various other purposes since, culminating in its present incarnation as a cocktail bar.

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