Ginnel

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Narrow pathway or portal between houses

title: "Ginnel" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["alleys", "pedestrian-infrastructure", "urban-design", "psychogeography", "english-dialect-words"] description: "Narrow pathway or portal between houses" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginnel" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Narrow pathway or portal between houses ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Ginnel_Cliff_Ln_-geograph.org.uk-_2724677.jpg" caption="[[Leeds]], England"] ::

A ginnel is a word in various Scottish and northern English dialects describing a fenced or walled alley between residential buildings that provides a pedestrian shortcut to nearby streets. Ginnels are typically found in suburban areas, and do not contain any business premises, unlike some other types of alley. Other related terms include snicket, tenfoot and snickelway.

Suburban streets in Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand similarly feature "cut-throughs", which are fenced or walled passages found between residential lots that grant pedestrians easy access to nearby facilities situated on other roads. They may feature a nature strip and are generally secured by bollards to prevent vehicle access.{{cite web |title=Reimagining pedestrian cut throughs and pedestrian streets |website=MRCagney Blog |author=Malcolm McCracken |date=8 July 2021 |publisher=MRCagney Pty Ltd |url=https://www.mrcagney.com/about/blog/reimagining-pedestrian-cut-throughs-and-pedestrian-streets/ |access-date=19 January 2026

Origins

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Ginnel_between_Beechwood_Rise_and_Dove_Close,Wetherby(27th_July_2019).jpg" caption="[[Wetherby]], England"] ::

The earliest recorded use of the word was in 1613.

In 1744, pharmacist Arthur Jessop wrote a subpoena that mentioned Joseph Eastwood's wife in the "Ginnil" in the Low at Holmfirth in the West Riding of Yorkshire. A subdivision of the Taylor family was said to be of Ginnel in Meltham in 1774. In most works, there is no broad distinction drawn between ginnel and snicket, and the two have been used interchangeably.

Both are described as north-country words for a narrow entrance between houses. However, in the Holme Valley, it has been said that a ginnel goes uphill and has setts whereas a snicket does not, and is surrounded by vegetation. "Ginnel" is a dialect word from Yorkshire, UK, which appeared in dialect dictionaries in the 19th century.

Etymology

The Oxford English Dictionary states that its etymology is vague, though it compares the word to 'channel' (including being a corruption of it), and says it is 'a long, narrow passage between houses, either roofed or unroofed'. In The English Dialect Dictionary it is differentiated with 'entry', and is said to feature a roof, unlike a ginnel. Furthermore, editors of some Yorkshire glossaries asserted a connection between ginnel and a Scandinavian word for 'mouth', on the analogy of an opening.

According to Collins English Dictionary, a snicket is 'a passageway between walls or fences', and a ginnel is 'a narrow passageway between or through buildings'.

Gallery

Sydney alleyway.jpg |A "cut-through" in Western Sydney, Australia. Ginnel - geograph.org.uk - 2714614.jpg|A narrow, bricked ginnel in Leeds Ginnel, Town Street, Bramley, Leeds - geograph.org.uk - 4927284.jpg|A ginnel surrounded by English Ivy Ginnel off Saltburn Road, Brotton - geograph.org.uk - 163355.jpg|In Brotton Ginnel Grosvenor Mt to Cliff Ln - geograph.org.uk - 2724674.jpg Ginnel, end Cumberland Road, Hyde Park Leeds - geograph.org.uk - 2714575.jpg Ginnel, Red Hall Lane, Whinmoor (14th July 2017).jpg Ginnel between Crossley Street and Barleyfields Road, Wetherby (7th November 2015).JPG| Gorse Hill, ginnel - geograph.org.uk - 3792985.jpg Ginnel off All Saint's St - geograph.org.uk - 1776639.jpg

References

References

  1. . ["ginnel"](https://useful_english.en-academic.com/424666/ginnel).
  2. [https://yorkshiredictionary.york.ac.uk/words/ginnel Ginnel] Yorkshire Historical Dictionary. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  3. [https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/local-news/why-is-ginnel-in-yorkshire-17943622 This is why a ginnel is called a ginnel in Yorkshire - according to the experts] By Danielle Hoe from [[Examiner Live]]. 29 March 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  4. [https://www.cityservices.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/396868/ds11_guardrails_fences_barriers.pdf DESIGN STANDARDS for URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE, 11, FENCES, GUARDRAILS AND BARRIERS] Fences, Guardrails and Barriers, Urban Services. 2000. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  5. "ginnel".
  6. Jones, Mark W. ''A Walk Around the Snickelways of York''
  7. [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/snicket Definition of 'snicket'] Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  8. [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ginnel Definition of 'ginnel'] Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved 16 November 2022.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

alleyspedestrian-infrastructureurban-designpsychogeographyenglish-dialect-words