Why it is called Whip‑Ma‑Whop‑Ma‑Gate in York city centre
York's Whip‑Ma‑Whop‑Ma‑Gate (Image: Newsqueset)
"Try saying this after a couple of pints," says an unofficial tour guide, proudly showing off one of York's tiniest curiosities to visiting friends.
Anyone who grew up in York, or who now claims it as home, will no doubt rush along Whip‑Ma‑Whop‑Ma‑Gate, trying not to trip over the tangle of tourists, without giving its street sign a second glance - even though it's almost as long as the lane itself.
Colliergate in 1980 where it meets Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate.
(Image: Newsquest)
Whip‑Ma‑Whop‑Ma‑Gate is the sort of place you only really notice when someone stops to photograph the sign, or when a walking‑tour guide gathers a group to cram into the same obligatory photo.
It's fair to say it's a modest street with a quirky name that steals all the attention.
How York's Whip‑Ma‑Whop‑Ma‑Gate got its quirky street name
In the city records of 1505, the street appears as “Whitnourwhatnourgate”, later becoming “Whitney Whatneygate”.
Historians read this as a derisive phrase, more of less translating as “neither one thing nor the other street”. Other documents call it Salvey Rents or Salvegate in the 17th and 18th centuries, suggesting a normal back lane rather than a future feature of Instagram.
Somewhere along the way, that knot of consonants loosened into the sing‑song “Whip‑Ma‑Whop‑Ma‑Gate” we know today.
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A neat black plaque on the wall offers “What a street!” as a playful translation.
There are countless stories about its origins, of course. Guides and bloggers relish tales of whipping posts and stocks on the corner, of dogs being whipped for stealing meat from Shambles butchers - colourful legends rather than anything solidly documented.
By the 1980s the city had decided this tiny tourist trap, which feeds onto Pavement, was worth looking after.
Undated photo of Pavement near the junction with Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate.
(Image: Newsquest)
In 1984 the alley was repaved in York stone with support from York Civic Trust, which also installed the explanatory plaque that now features in almost as many photos as the sign itself.
The name today covers both the narrow strip behind the old church site and the slightly wider fan of roadway where Colliergate opens onto Pavement, home to a handful of addresses – including the curious “1½ Whip‑Ma‑Whop‑Ma‑Gate”.
Whip‑Ma‑Whop‑Ma‑Gate runs off Colliergate by the old St Crux site but it hasn’t always looked this way.
Pavement, with Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate leading off on the left, pictured in September 1983.
(Image: Newsquest)
In about 1750, houses were pulled down from the east end of St Crux Church to widen the junction, opening out what had been a cramped medieval corner.
In its heyday, St Crux was quite probably one of the most distinctive churches in York -a big, looming presence, as this old photo from York Explore shows.
St Crux Church, close to Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate, pictured in the 1880s during its demolition.
(Image: Explore York Libraries and Archives)
The church of the 'saint of the holy cross' (what the name means) once stood on the corner of Pavement and Shambles, boasting a beautiful Italianate tower which the Victorians later reportedly considered 'unsightly'. The church deteriorated and was deemed unsafe in 1872 and demolition work started in the early 1880s though part of its north wall still survives in 23 Shambles.
Stand on the corner early on a weekday and it can still feel like the “neither one thing nor the other” lane of bygone days.
By lunchtime, this brief street has become one of York’s most cherished quirks, proving that sometimes a name is all it takes to secure a place in a city's story.