# Vennel

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Passageway between buildings

The Vennel, off Edinburgh's [Grassmarket](/source/Grassmarket)

A **vennel** is a passageway between the gables of two buildings which can in effect be a minor street in [Scotland](/source/Scotland) and the [north east of England](/source/North_East_England), particularly in the old centre of [Durham](/source/Durham%2C_England).

## Etymology

In Scotland, the term originated in [royal burghs](/source/Royal_burgh) created in the [twelfth century](/source/12th_century), the word deriving from the [Old French](/source/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](/source/High_Street) to the open ground beyond the [burgage plots](/source/Burgage).[1] The [Latin](/source/Latin) form is *venella*, related to the English word "funnel".

## Names

The [Scottish burghs](/source/Scottish_burgh) established by [David I](/source/David_I_of_Scotland) (see Burghs section of [Economy of Scotland in the High Middle Ages](/source/Economy_of_Scotland_in_the_High_Middle_Ages)) drew upon the burgh model of [Newcastle upon Tyne](/source/Newcastle_upon_Tyne) and used a number of French or Germanic words for townscape features. [Aberdeen City Council](/source/Aberdeen_City_Council) refers to vennels having been part of the old town and historical records suggest [Arbroath](/source/Arbroath) had a vennel. In the City of Durham, like Newcastle, part of the old kingdom of [Northumbria](/source/Northumbria), lanes are also known colloquially as vennels.

## Areas

The Glasgow Vennel in Irvine, where [Robert Burns](/source/Robert_Burns) lodged while working in the nearby [heckling shop](/source/Heckling_(flax)).[2]

There are vennels in [Ardersier](/source/Ardersier), [Cromarty](/source/Cromarty), [Culross](/source/Culross), [Dumfries](/source/Dumfries), [Dalry](/source/Dalry%2C_North_Ayrshire), [Dumfries](/source/Dumfries), [Dunfermline](/source/Dunfermline), [Edinburgh](/source/Edinburgh),[3] [Elie](/source/Elie_and_Earlsferry), [Eyemouth](/source/Eyemouth), [Forfar](/source/Forfar), [Irvine](/source/Irvine%2C_North_Ayrshire), [Lanark](/source/Lanark), [Linlithgow](/source/Linlithgow), [Maybole](/source/Maybole), [North Berwick](/source/North_Berwick), [Peebles](/source/Peebles), [Perth](/source/Perth%2C_Scotland) (see [Vennels of Perth](/source/Vennels_of_Perth)), [South Queensferry](/source/South_Queensferry), [Stirling](/source/Stirling) and [Wigtown](/source/Wigtown). There are also vennels in the towns of [Glenarm](/source/Glenarm) and [Bangor](/source/Bangor%2C_County_Down) (abandoned in 2021[4]) in Northern Ireland, likely reflecting the Scottish influence in the eastern parts of the province of [Ulster](/source/Ulster). For example, the old name for High Street in [Comber](/source/Comber) was *Cow Lane*, an [anglicisation](/source/Anglicisation) of its Ulster Scots name *Coo Vennel*.[5]

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](/source/Muriel_Spark).

## Popular culture

The Vennel off the [Grassmarket](/source/Grassmarket) in [Edinburgh](/source/Edinburgh) appears in the film *[The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie](/source/The_Prime_of_Miss_Jean_Brodie_(film))* (1969) when Brodie takes her girls on a walk through the [Old Town](/source/Old_Town%2C_Edinburgh), ending up in [Greyfriars Kirkyard](/source/Greyfriars_Kirkyard).

## See also

- [Alley](/source/Alley) – Narrow street that usually runs between, behind, or within buildings

- [Ginnel](/source/Ginnel) – Narrow pathway or portal between houses

- [Pend](/source/Pend) – Passageway through a building

- [Snickleway](/source/Snickleway) – Small streets and alleys in York, EnglandPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets

- [Wynd](/source/Wynd) – Type of street in Britain

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** S Harris, The Place Names of Edinburgh, London 2002

1. **[^](#cite_ref-p121_2-0)** ["Robert Burns and the flax trade"](https://irvineburnsclub.org/flaxtrade.php). *Wellwood Burns Centre and Irvine Burns Club*. Retrieved 30 January 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Photos and history of The Vennel in Edinburgh](http://www.bpra.org.uk/photos.html)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Formal *abandonment* proposal"](https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/consultations/abandonment-vennel-bangor).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Historical Street Directory from Comber Historical Society"](http://www.comberhistory.com/comber%20directory.pdf) (PDF). page 158

- [The Conservation Glossary](http://www.trp.dundee.ac.uk/research/glossary/glossary.html): produced in conjunction with Town & Regional Planning, University of Dundee's postgraduate course on European Urban Conservation

- [Aberdeen City Council](http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ACCI/web/site/xcp_Plaque.asp)

- "Townlife in Fourteenth-Century Scotland" by Elizabeth Ewan; Edinburgh University Press, 1990

- [Edinburgh steps and pathway named in honour of Muriel Spark - Scotsman Newspaper 2018](https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/edinburgh-steps-and-pathway-named-in-honour-of-muriel-spark-1-4748875)

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