Address: Three Cranes Lane, York, YO1 8RN
Description
At the top of a dim, narrow alley in York’s city centre, an old street sign reads ‘Three Cranes Passage.’
The text is barely visible, with only a faint outline left, decorated with graffiti.
History
This narrow alley connects Swinegate to St Sampson’s Square, which was once a busy market square known as Thursday Market.
At one point, this lane served as a bustling route to the market, because Church Street, which now runs parallel, used to end at Swinegate.
1975 – Three Cranes Passage is just visible between Three Cranes pub and Olympia Coffee House Source: York Press
Hidden in the heart of York’s city centre, you can find remnants of a late 16th or early 17th-century timber-framed building in Three Cranes Lane.
This snickleway linking St Sampson’s Square with Swinegate likely existed before the timber-framed building was constructed.
Today, all that remains of the historic structure is a beam that formed the bottom of the upper floor at the end of the frame and the main supporting post at the back of the building.
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