The Story Behind Davygate, York

York is one of our oldest cities and there is history to be discovered on every corner.

Davygate has been a thoroughfare for over 800 years and was named after King Stephen’s Lardiner, a chap called David. He had control over the nearby Forest of Galtres which supplied the Royal Larder around 1135.

On the corner of Davygate and Stonegate stands the charming Church of St Helen, a small but fascinating reminder of York’s long association with craftsmanship and trade. The church was once the parish church of the city’s glass painters, who lived and worked in the adjoining street and were responsible for creating much of the stained glass found throughout York’s churches and historic buildings.

The church itself has 14th-century origins, although much of what we see today dates from its reconstruction in the late 19th century, following a long period when the building had fallen into disuse. One of its most distinctive features is the unusual green-painted ceiling.