York in the Victorian era with Sophie Austin

Submitted: 10th March 2025

York in the Victorian era – Sophie Austin

The Lamplighter’s Bookshop

Care to step back in time on the cobblestones of York…..

The Lamplighters Bookshop Sophie Austin

The Lamplighters Bookshop

A lot of the York we see today would have looked very similar two hundred years ago. Yes, the city walls might be more weather-worn now, and the moss might’ve rooted itself a little deeper. However, this is a city that doesn’t just wear its history. It IS the history – old and new side by side. It’s silver transit vans rattling past the oak-beamed inn that Guy Fawkes was born in. Neon lights slanting across 14th century cobblestones….

For me, there was no other setting for The Lamplighter’s Bookshop, where my characters Evelyn and William find themselves constantly at odds with the friction of old, Victorian values meeting the new age of science and invention.

The Lamplighters Bookshop

Selfie on Foss Bridge (c) Sophie Austin)

Foss Bridge

We’ll start on Foss Bridge – where The Lamplighter’s Bookshop lives! Although the bookshop itself is fictional – it’s built in Frankenstein’s-monster sort of way from a number of bookshops I’d visited in York. One of the main inspirations was the Minster Gate Bookshop – which lies closer to the heart of the city, near York’s Minster. I think there’s something so magical about that bookshop – the creaking stairs, the corridors, and books everywhere you look. I wanted to bring some of that into The Lamplighter’s Bookshop – the feeling of having shelves of books – an entire building consumed by books, or perhaps built from them!

The Lamplighters Bookshop

Walmgate (c) Sophie Austin

Walmgate

Walmgate runs like a current through the novel. Evelyn walks it each time she travels to the bookshop, or ventures into the city for another clash with Lady Violet, and it’s where her and Naomi first bond as friends. Just like today, Walmgate would’ve been lined with shops and a flurry of activity!

The Lamplighters Bookshop

The Club Chambers

This was a really interesting location to research as I really wanted to try and find a member’s club that would have permitted women. Even in 1899 this would’ve been progressive. So, I had to fictionalise the club’s residences and the admittance of women. However, it is based upon a real building (with the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster in the marble!)

The Lamplighters Bookshop

Royal Station Hotel

The Royal Station Hotel, as it was called in 1899 – was built in 1853, and you can still stay there today! The Victorian era was truly the era of railway travel, and a lot of hotels sprang up to accompany guests journeying the length of England. In The Lamplighter’s Bookshop – quite a few pivotal moments happen in the hotel’s restaurant. It’s also where another character, Jack, lands his dream job.

I hope you enjoy exploring Victorian York quite as much as I did. If you don’t have a time machine, don’t worry – you can explore it with Evelyn and Will in The Lamplighter’s Bookshop!

The Lamplighters Bookshop

Oxford Close – which is really St Leonard’s Place!

The Lamplighters Bookshop

The inspiration for William’s “secret abode” came from St Leonard’s Place! Building work started here in the mid 1800s, and in 1899 this curving stretch was a mixture of residential houses and businesses including a subscription library, the Yorkshire Club, and the De Grey rooms. The Royal Theatre is also found on this street – where another of the scenes from The Lamplighter’s Bookshop takes place, in which the class difference between Evelyn and William is laid bare. Both the theatre and the De Grey rooms are still there to this day!

thank you so much Sophie. What a fascinating trail around mysterious York!