Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate - York, UK
N 53° 57.545 W 001° 04.764
30U E 626010 N 5980677
Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate is the name of the shortest street in the city of York.
Waymark Code: WMMEY3
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/10/2014
Views: 2
A plaque on the rear of St Crux Parish Hall, that backs on to Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate, tells us:
Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate
The shortest street in York. Known in 1505 as
Whitnourwhatnourgate (and meaning "what a street !")
it was changed later into its present name.
The footpath was paved in York stone by
York Civic Trust in 1984.
The Yorkshire-England website tells us:
This is the smallest street in York and has the longest name. A local custom of whipping small yelping dogs called Whappets was observed in this area in medival times. The street lies at the southern end of Colliergate.
Whilst Wikipedia tells us:
Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate is one of the smallest streets in York, if not the smallest. It is between Colliergate and Fossgate and intersects The Pavement and The Stonebow in York city centre. It is currently a length of raised pavement between St Crux church hall and a small road junction.
The origin of the name is unclear. "Gate" derives from the Norse word "gatta" meaning street. A plaque erected in the street states that it derives from a phrase Whitnourwhatnourgate meaning "What a street!", but most modern sources translate the phrase as "Neither one thing nor the other". The city's whipping post and stocks were here in the middle ages, which may have influenced the change to the modern spelling and has certainly provided an alternative folk etymology.
The photo, below, that shows the parish hall building includes the full length of the street. It starts near the man on the left and finishes at the railings near the couple on the right!
