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 of England, particularly in the old centre of Durham.
Etymology
In Scotland, the term originated in
Royal burgh created in the 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 to the open ground beyond the
Burgage.
[S Harris, The Place Names of Edinburgh, London 2002] The
Latin form is
venella, related to the English word "funnel".
Names
The
Scottish burgh established by 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
There are vennels in
Ardersier,
Cromarty,
Culross,
Dumfries, Dalry,
Dumfries,
Dunfermline,
Edinburgh,
[ Photos and history of The Vennel in Edinburgh ] Elie,
Eyemouth,
Forfar, Irvine,
Lanark,
Linlithgow,
Maybole,
North Berwick,
Peebles, Perth (see Vennels of Perth), South Queensferry,
Stirling and
Wigtown. There are also vennels in the towns of
Glenarm and Bangor (abandoned in 2021
) 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.
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 (1969) when Brodie takes her girls on a walk through the Old Town, ending up in Greyfriars Kirkyard.
See also
