A ginnel is a word in various Scottish and northern English dialects describing a fenced or walled

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

between residential buildings that provides a pedestrian shortcut to nearby streets.Ginnel
Yorkshire Historical Dictionary. Retrieved 16 November 2022. Ginnels are typically found in

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

an areas, and do not contain any business premises, unlike some other types of alley. Other related terms include snicket, tenfoot and snickelway.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. Suburban streets in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia 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

bollard A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. In modern usage, it also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to pre ...

s to prevent vehicle access.

Origins

The earliest recorded use of the word was in 1613. In 1744, pharmacist Arthur Jessop wrote a

subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

that mentioned Joseph Eastwood's wife in the "Ginnil" in the Low at

Holmfirth Holmfirth () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. It is located south of Huddersfield and west of Barnsley; the boundary of the Peak District National Park is to the south-west. The town is sited on t ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. A subdivision of the Taylor family was said to be of Ginnel in

Meltham Meltham is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Holme Valley, below Wessenden Moor, south-west of Huddersfield on the edge of the Peak District National Park. It had ...

in 1774. In most works, there is no broad distinction drawn between ginnel and snicket, and the two have been used interchangeably.Jones, Mark W. ''A Walk Around the Snickelways of York'' Both are described as north-country words for a narrow entrance between houses. However, in the

Holme Valley Holme Valley, formerly Holmfirth is a large civil parish in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 25,049 (2001 census), increasing to 34,680 for the two wards in the 2011 Census. Its administrat ...

, 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 Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, UK, which appeared in dialect dictionaries in the 19th century.

Etymology

The ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'' states that its

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

is vague, though it compares the word to 'channel' (including being a

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

of it), and says it is 'a long, narrow passage between houses, either roofed or unroofed'. In ''

The English Dialect Dictionary ''The English Dialect Dictionary'' (''EDD'') is the most comprehensive dictionary of English dialects ever published, compiled by the Yorkshire dialectologist Joseph Wright (1855–1930), with strong support by a team and his wife Elizabeth Mary ...

'' it is differentiated with 'entry', and is said to feature a

roof A roof (: roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of tempera ...

, 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 The ''Collins English Dictionary'' is a printed and online dictionary of English. It is published by HarperCollins in Glasgow. It was first published in 1979. Corpus The dictionary uses language research based on the Collins Corpus, which is ...

'', a ''snicket'' is 'a passageway between walls or fences', and a ''ginnel'' is 'a narrow passageway between or through buildings'.Definition of 'ginnel'
Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved 16 November 2022.

Gallery

Sydney alleyway.jpg , A "cut-through" in

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

, Australia. Ginnel - geograph.org.uk - 2714614.jpg, A narrow, bricked ginnel in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Ginnel, Town Street, Bramley, Leeds - geograph.org.uk - 4927284.jpg, A ginnel surrounded by

English Ivy ''Hedera helix'', the common ivy, European ivy, King's Choice ivy, or just ivy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Araliaceae. It is native to most of Europe and parts of western Asia. Ivy is a clinging evergreen vine that grows on t ...

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

{{Walking Types of streets Footpaths Trails Hiking Landscape architecture Pedestrian infrastructure Types of thoroughfares Urban design Psychogeography

Origins

Etymology

Gallery

See also

References