slaughterhouses and the fact the buildings shade the narrow street from direct sunlight meant that the meat on display could stay fresh for longer. Also, when butchering took place, the guts, offal and blood were thrown into the street runnels that had a natural slope which helped it wash away after rain. These butchering practices long predated basic modern standards of hygiene and the street would have been incredibly unhygienic in these days. The last butcher shops on the street closed in the early 20th century and although the butchers have now vanished, a number of the shops on the street still have meat-hooks hanging outside and, below them, shelves on which meat was displayed. The shops include restaurants and shops as well as a bookshop and a bakery. In medieval times, many streets in York had a similar appearance to the Shambles, such as The Water Lanes. The Shambles preserves a large amount of original medieval-built fabric, with many buildings dating from circa 1350–1475. Along with this, the picturesque qualities of the narrow street with its timber-framed jettied houses have meant that, since as early as the 19th century, it has been recognised as a major attraction of the city of York. The 1940s and 1950s were a period when the Shambles was subject to a lot of change. After the Second World War, the street was targeted by city planners who wanted to make improvements to the buildings which by that time were in urgent need of restoration. York City Council purchased numerous properties from private owners and, during the 1950s, they extensively altered and rebuilt many buildings and demolished large sections of the area, including the entirety of Little Shambles, a short street that led west off the centre which was considered to be beyond repair. A chapel called Holy Trinity Christ Church was at the heart of King's Square until it was demolished in 1937. Today, some of these restorations are seen as insensitive, since a great deal of historic fabric, including slaughterhouses and outbuildings at the rear of the properties, was demolished. The Yorkshire Architectural and York Archaeological Society's annual report of 1949 contains plans of The Shambles showing the buildings to be removed. There are five "snickelways" that lead off the Shambles because they used to be small alleyways in the backs of the buildings, but since these back buildings were demolished in the