In the streets old timber and plaster dwellings, with their overhanging stories and high-peaked red-tiled gables, are here and there hemmed in by modern buildings. Timber houses, however, are becoming scarcer, and quite recently a number of such dwellings have been demolished. A few carved brackets which carry overhanging stories remain in Stonegate and Fossgate, and two from Davygate have been re-erected in Trinity Lane. The Shambles, of which a view is given, is the only street that preserves its narrow mediaeval character. From the uppermost of its overhanging stories you might shake hands with your neighbour across the street. This and Little Shambles are the delight of artists. The end of one house has been shorn of the lath and plaster work and shows how such timber houses were constructed. The antiquity of the houses in High Petergate, and the mediaeval narrowness of the street, enable one looking towards Bootham Bar to realize the former appearance of the approach to a gatehouse from within the city. The approaches to the other Bars have been widened and their aspect changed. A characteristic of York is the frequent occurrence at street corners of an ancient church surrounded by its burial-ground.
“Each in its little plot of holy ground,
How beautiful they stand,
These old grey churches of our native land.”
The business of the city was in the hands of its freemen. Their privileges were great. Only a freeman could trade in the city, and his sons might become free on attaining their majority. He had also the right of voting for the city’s representatives in Parliament. The freedom of the city was granted to outsiders who served an apprenticeship of seven years to a freeman, or by purchase or gift. No one was admitted to the freedom without taking an oath
before the Lord Mayor, and the freeman was sworn to present to the Lord Mayor any unfranchised man who attempted to trade within the city and to take charge of his goods. Each trade had its own guild ruled by the Master, Wardens, and Searchers. Two of these trading companies are still in existence, the Merchant Adventurers and the Merchant Taylors. The hall of the former guild is in Fossgate. Over the entrance is their arms and motto Dieu nous donne bonne adventure. Steps lead from the courtyard to the hall with its three gables, the barge boards of which are carved with the leaves and fruit of the vine. The hall is a timber and plaster building and consists of two rooms which have panelled dados and open roofs. Each room is 60 feet long and 25 feet wide. The walls of the courtroom are adorned with paintings of past governors as well as a full-length portrait of George the First. The chapel stairs are approached by a large trapdoor in the floor. Service is held there on Charter Day (26 March). Of the old standards for weights and measures, there is left a brass yard measure. The scales are of the date 1790. An oval tobacco-or snuffbox belonged to the ancient company of “Linnen Weavers”. On the anniversary of the execution of Charles I, the Merchant Adventurers in compliance with the will of Jane Stainton attend service in All Saints’ Church. Pavement, to be reminded of their latter end.
The Merchant Taylors’ Hall, a brick building, is in Aldwark. In the smaller room is an inscription setting forth that:—“This Company has beene dignified in the yeare 1679, by haveing on their Fraternity eight kings, eleven dukes, thirty earles, and forty-four lords.” On St. John the Baptist’s Day the Merchant Taylors attend service at All Saints’ Church, Pavement, in accordance with the will of John Straker, who died in 1667.