Low Petergate follows the route of the main Roman road through York and is still one of the city’s busiest streets.
York Minster rises above the ancient street of Petergate
The Romans called it the via principalis; the principal road through the fortress of Eboracum. It ran from the porta dextra – the “right-hand gate”, on the site of Bootham Bar – to the porta sinistra – the “left-hand gate”, where King’s Square now lies.
Today, Low Petergate runs from Minster Yard by St Michael-le-Belfry church to King’s Square and is one of the city’s best shopping streets – and one of the busiest.
Parts of the street bear the marks, if not of its Roman origins, of its importance when York was the leading city of the North in the middle ages. It owes its name to St Peter, whom the Minster is dedicated to, and parts of medieval buildings jostle side-by-side with Georgian and more modern additions. Keep your head up as you walk down this street and look above the plate glass shop fronts.
Watch out for the Guy Fawkes Hotel opposite St Michael-le-Belfry; this was the birthplace of the Guy (or Guido) Fawkes of Gunpowder Plot infamy. The Hotel is an excellent place to stop for a pint, by the way.
One of York’s best secondhand bookshops is tucked away in Minster Gates, between Low Petergate and Deangate. This tiny street took its name from the gates that were here before the English Reformation, when the walls that previously surrounded the Minster Precinct were knocked down. Directly opposite Minster Gates you’ll find Stonegate, another street with ancient roots.
You’ll also pass Grape Lane, which leads to the recently redeveloped “Quarter”, and a couple of snickleways with the colourful monikers of Mad Alice Lane and Netherpot Lane.
It’s worth looking up when you get toward the King’s Square end of Petergate as the sight of the Minster towering above the medieval rooftops is generally worth a photo or two.
And no visit to York would be complete without a trip to Petergate Fisheries, which serves some of the finest fish and chips in the city (with or without ‘Yorkshire Caviar’ – ie, mushy peas).
Watch out for some strange sculptures above the doorways of some of the shops, which date back to when retailers used symbols rather than words to advertise their wares to a largely illiterate population.
Continue your York tour
From the north-west end of Low Petergate
Go north-west to High Petergate and Bootham Bar
Go west to Duncombe Place
Go east to Minster Yard and the Minster
Go down Stonegate towards St Helen’s Square, Betty’s and the Mansion House
Go through Minster Gates to Minster Yard and the Minster
Go down Grape Lane to the Quarter
From the south-east end of Low Petergate
Go north-east down Goodramgate towards St William’s College and Monk Bar
Go south through King’s Square to the Shambles
Go south-west towards Parliament Street