{{short description|Passageway between buildings}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}} {{Use British English|date=June 2017}} [[File:The Vennel, Edinburgh.JPG|thumb|The Vennel, off Edinburgh's [[Grassmarket]]]]
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 England|north east of England]], particularly in the old centre of [[Durham, England|Durham]].
==Etymology== In Scotland, the term originated in [[Royal burgh|royal burghs]] created in the [[12th century|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|high street]] to the open ground beyond the [[Burgage|burgage plots]].<ref>S Harris, The Place Names of Edinburgh, London 2002</ref> The [[Latin]] form is ''venella'', related to the English word "funnel".
==Names== The [[Scottish burgh|Scottish burghs]] established by [[David I of Scotland|David I]] (see Burghs section of [[Economy 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.
==Areas== [[File:Glasgow Vennel, Irvine - geograph.org.uk - 360979.jpg|thumb|The Glasgow Vennel in Irvine, where [[Robert Burns]] lodged while working in the nearby [[Heckling (flax)|heckling shop]].<ref name="p121">{{cite web |title=Robert Burns and the flax trade |website=Wellwood Burns Centre and Irvine Burns Club |url=https://irvineburnsclub.org/flaxtrade.php |access-date=30 January 2025}}</ref>]] There are vennels in [[Ardersier]], [[Cromarty]], [[Culross]], [[Dumfries]], [[Dalry, North Ayrshire|Dalry]], [[Dumfries]], [[Dunfermline]], [[Edinburgh]],<ref>[http://www.bpra.org.uk/photos.html Photos and history of The Vennel in Edinburgh] </ref> [[Elie and Earlsferry|Elie]], [[Eyemouth]], [[Forfar]], [[Irvine, North Ayrshire|Irvine]], [[Lanark]], [[Linlithgow]], [[Maybole]], [[North Berwick]], [[Peebles]], [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]] (see [[Vennels of Perth]]), [[South Queensferry]], [[Stirling]] and [[Wigtown]]. There are also vennels in the towns of [[Glenarm]] and [[Bangor, County Down|Bangor]] (abandoned in 2021<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/consultations/abandonment-vennel-bangor|title=Formal ''abandonment'' proposal}}</ref>) 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''.<ref>{{cite web|quote=page 158 |url=http://www.comberhistory.com/comber%20directory.pdf|title=Historical Street Directory from Comber Historical Society}}</ref>
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]].
==Popular culture== The Vennel off the [[Grassmarket]] in [[Edinburgh]] appears in the film ''[[The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (film)|The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie]]'' (1969) when Brodie takes her girls on a walk through the [[Old Town, Edinburgh|Old Town]], ending up in [[Greyfriars Kirkyard]].
==See also== * {{Annotated link|Alley}} * {{Annotated link|Ginnel}} * {{Annotated link|Pend}} * {{Annotated link|Snickleway}} * {{Annotated link|Wynd}}
==References== {{Reflist}} * [http://www.trp.dundee.ac.uk/research/glossary/glossary.html The Conservation Glossary]: produced in conjunction with Town & Regional Planning, University of Dundee's postgraduate course on European Urban Conservation * [http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ACCI/web/site/xcp_Plaque.asp Aberdeen City Council] * "Townlife in Fourteenth-Century Scotland" by Elizabeth Ewan; Edinburgh University Press, 1990 * [https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/edinburgh-steps-and-pathway-named-in-honour-of-muriel-spark-1-4748875 Edinburgh steps and pathway named in honour of Muriel Spark - Scotsman Newspaper 2018]
[[Category:Alleys]] [[Category:Streets in Scotland]] [[Category:Scottish words and phrases]]