The Architect

Tom Adams

In medieval times cats were seen as a sign of good luck or a way of scaring rodents from buildings. While no cat sculptures of that particular period still exist, York still has two cats which we know were attached to a food shop in 1926. The tradition faded away until the 1980’s when an architect, Tom Adams, came to work in York and reinvigorated the idea. As a cat lover who signed his architectural drawings with the drawing of a cat. He loved York, he loved cats and he once said that ‘there should be fun in architecture’ ….so he combined all three by re-creating a tradition which lives on today.

This tradition now gives walking in York another dimension as visitors and residents alike are invited to follow the ‘Cat Trail’ and identify as many as 28 cats within the City Centre and a few miles into the suburbs.

It is now not uncommon to see people tracing the route clutching the book; ‘The Mystery Cats of York’ and looking upwards!