Welcome to The Cross Keys, your local pub in York
As a British brand with a heritage of 150+ years, we pride ourselves on our position as purveyors of perfect pints and unbeatable pies, with tempting dishes on our British pub classic menus.
A unique city centre pub with a rich history
Nicholson’s Pubs are known for their individual style, exciting stories, and charming personalities — and The Cross Keys is certainly no exception.
Dating back to the late 1800's, The Cross Keys is a snug and traditional Victorian pub. Located in the main central shopping street of Goodramgate, our pub is a stone's throw of York Minster. This area was created in the Viking era and is chronicled through the history and magnificence of architecture, war, politics and social evolution, much of it documented by the epochs of the nearby Minster and Yorvik Viking Centre.
It's hard to believe from looking at it today, but York Minster was originally built in 627 as a small wooden church for the baptism of the Anglo Saxon King, Edwin of Northumbria, and today contains the world's largest single expanse of medieval stained glass.
Goodramgate exhibits wonderful architecture spanning many centuries and some of its finest illustrations are the early English examples of medieval 'jettied' houses, where the first floor would overhang the lower part for the disposal of sanitation waste. Just round the corner is Treasurer's House, the first house to be donated to The National Trust because of its history spanning 2000 years, beginning with an authentic Roman Road located through the cellar.