The streets leading away from the Minster's west side open to St. Helen's Square, so called because it was the churchyard for St. Helen's in the center-rear of this picture. This is a pleasant space filled with historic buildings, the oldest of which is St. Helen's itself dating from the 13th century. It was the church for the glass painters who were probably kept quite busy in the Minster construction. It was partially destroyed during the Reformation, but restored during the reign of the Catholic Mary Tudor.
Opposite St. Helen's is the Georgian Mansion House (shown below), the home of York's mayors since 1725. It stands next to the old Roman Gateway. Note the city coat-of-arms on the pediment.
St. Helen's square once featured chocolate stores as York was big on chocolate, dating back to Quakers who started several chocolate businesses. York's great rail access made it a great place to manufacture and distribute the candy. The two big families (Rowntree and Terry) have since been sold out to big guns like Kraft (who moved the old Terry chocolate production elsewhere) and Nestlé's (which still makes Kit Kats nearby). The lavish Terry chocolate store is now (what else?) a gift shop.