A vennel is a passageway between the gables of two buildings which can in effect be a minor street in Scotland and the north east of England, particularly in the old centre of Durham.
A vennel is a passageway between the gables of two buildings which can in effect be a minor street in Scotland and the north east of England, particularly in the old centre of Durham.
In Scotland, the term originated in royal burghs created in the twelfth century, the word deriving from the Old French word venelle meaning "alley" or "lane". Unlike a tenement entry to private property, known as a "close", a vennel was a public way leading from a typical high street to the open ground beyond the burgage plots. [1] The Latin form is venella, related to the English word "funnel".
The Scottish burghs established by David I (see Economy section of Scotland in the High Middle Ages) drew upon the burgh model of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and used a number of French or Germanic words for townscape features. Aberdeen City Council refers to vennels having been part of the old town and historical records suggest Arbroath had a vennel. In the City of Durham, like Newcastle, part of the old kingdom of Northumbria, lanes are also known colloquially as vennels.
There are vennels in Ardersier, Cromarty, Culross, Dumfries, Dalry, Dumfries, Dunfermline, Edinburgh, [2] Elie, Eyemouth, Forfar, Irvine, Lanark, Linlithgow, Maybole, North Berwick, Peebles, Perth, South Queensferry, Stirling and Wigtown. There are also vennels in the towns of Glenarm and Bangor (abandoned in 2021 [3] ) in Northern Ireland, likely reflecting the Scottish influence in the eastern parts of the province of Ulster. For example, the old name for High Street in Comber was Cow Lane, an anglicisation of its Ulster Scots name Coo Vennel. [4]
The city of Perth has lost many vennels with the gradual transformation of its medieval centre, but some have survived and are still used: Guard Vennel, Cow Vennel, Baxters Vennel, Fleshers Vennel, Oliphants Vennel, Water Vennel and Cutlog Vennel. It was announced on 2 June 2018 that The Vennel steps have been renamed Miss Jean Brodie Steps to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of author Muriel Spark.
The Vennel off the Grassmarket in Edinburgh appears in the film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) when Brodie takes her girls on a walk through the Old Town, ending up in Greyfriars Kirkyard.
Perth is a city in central Scotland, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population of about 47,430 in 2018.
Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about 25 miles (40 km) by road from the Anglo-Scottish border and just 15 miles (24 km) away from Cumbria by air. Dumfries is the county town of the historic county of Dumfriesshire.
An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in the older parts of towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road, or a path, walk, or avenue in a park or garden.
A royal burgh was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs.
A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United Kingdom. Following local government reorganisation in 1975, the title of "royal burgh" remains in use in many towns, but now has little more than ceremonial value.
The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House.
A wynd is typically a narrow lane between houses. The name is frequently encountered in towns and villages in Scotland and Northern England. The word derives from Old Norse venda, implying a turning off a main street, without implying that it is curved. In fact, most wynds are straight. In many places wynds link streets at different heights and thus are mostly thought of as being ways up or down hills.
Morningside is a district and former village in the south of Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies alongside the main arterial Morningside Road, part of an ancient route from Edinburgh to the south west of Scotland. The original village served several farms and estates in the area. In the 19th century, it developed as a residential suburb, its growth being stimulated by the arrival of a railway service and other transport improvements.
James Thin was a Scottish bookseller, stationer and publishing company.
A mercat cross is the Scots name for the market cross found frequently in Scottish cities, towns and villages where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. It therefore served a secular purpose as a symbol of authority, and was an indication of a burgh's relative prosperity. Historically, the term dates from the period before 1707, when the Kingdom of Scotland was an independent state, but it has been applied loosely to later structures built in the traditional architectural style of crosses or structures fulfilling the function of marking a settlement's focal point. Historical documents often refer simply to "the cross" of whichever town or village is mentioned. Today, there are around 126 known examples of extant crosses in Scotland, though the number rises if later imitations are added.
The West Port is a street in Edinburgh's Old Town, Scotland, located just south of Edinburgh Castle. It runs from Main Point down to the south west corner of the Grassmarket. It is named for the westernmost gate in the city walls, named the West Port, which was the only westwards exit from the city when the city walls stood, allowing passage through the Flodden Wall. The "Port" (gate) itself was demolished in 1786.
Perth is a city and former royal burgh in central Scotland. There has been a settlement at Perth since prehistoric times. Finds in and around Perth show that it was occupied by the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers who arrived in the area more than 8,000 years ago. Nearby Neolithic standing stones and circles followed the introduction of farming from about 4000 BC, and a remarkably well preserved Bronze Age log boat dated to around 1000 BC was found in the mudflats of the River Tay at Carpow to the east of Perth. Carpow was also the site of a Roman legionary fortress.
There have been several town walls around Edinburgh, Scotland, since the 12th century. Some form of wall probably existed from the foundation of the royal burgh in around 1125, though the first building is recorded in the mid-15th century, when the King's Wall was constructed. In the 16th century the more extensive Flodden Wall was erected, following the Scots' defeat at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. This was extended by the Telfer Wall in the early 17th century. The walls had a number of gates, known as ports, the most important being the Netherbow Port, which stood halfway down the Royal Mile. This gave access from the Canongate which was, at that time, a separate burgh.
The vennels of Perth are a collection of small medieval streets in the city of Perth, Scotland. Similar to York's Snickelways, vennels are a public right-of-way passageway between the gables of buildings which can, in effect, be a minor street. In Scotland, the term originated in royal burghs created in the twelfth century, the word deriving from the Old French word venelle meaning "alley" or "lane". Unlike a tenement entry to private property, known as a "close", a vennel was a public way leading from a typical high street to the open ground beyond the burgage plots. The Latin form is venella, related to the English word "funnel".
High Street is a street and the primary retail area of the Scottish city of Perth. Established in at least the 15th century, its central section has been both modernised and pedestrianised, while its two ends are mainly Victorian in terms of their composite buildings. It runs for about 0.5 miles (0.80 km), from Tay Street in the east to Caledonian Road in the west.
South Street is a prominent street in the Scottish city of Perth, Perth and Kinross. Established in at least the 15th century, it runs for about 0.5 miles (0.80 km), from the Dundee Road (the in the east to County Place in the west, passing through the entire breadth of the city. Queen's Bridge, completed in 1960 and opened by Queen Elizabeth II, carries South Street across the River Tay to and from Kinnoull.
Mill Street is a prominent street in the city of Perth, Scotland. Established in at least the 18th century, it runs for about 0.25 miles (0.40 km), from Bridge Lane in the east South Methven Street in the west, passing through roughly two-thirds of the northern third of the city centre.