P1024 Former Foss Islands Service Station

Item

Title
P1024 Former Foss Islands Service Station
Alternative Title
YORYM: 2002.450 Former Foss Islands Service Station, Foss Islands Road, York - Watching Brief
Description
On March 14th and 15th 2002 York Archaeological Trust carried out an archaeological watching brief on land at the former Foss Islands Filling Station, Foss Islands Road, York, during which the drilling of five boreholes was observed. In all of the boreholes thick relatively modern dumps were observed. Below these were thick deposits of silt which were damp or wet and in places contained noticeable amounts of moderately to well preserved organic material. The profile obtained from these boreholes indicated that the underlying clay sloped downwards from south to north and that the site may lie astride the edge of the King’s Fishpool, known from documentary and cartographic evidence to lie partly in the area of the site.

In October 2004, and on January 26th 2005, York Archaeological Trust carried out an archaeological watching brief at the former Foss Islands Filling Station, Foss Islands Road, York, during the excavation of a combined total 17 test pits and 5 boreholes. Previous archaeological work on the site had already identified modern dumping deposits sealing highly organic deposits associated with the Kings Fish Pool. The test pits and the boreholes during this programme of work confirmed these findings suggesting that this area was on the edge of the King’s Fish Pool as the natural subsoil was located close to the surface at the southern end of the site and dropped sharply to the north. An environmental sample was taken from the pond deposits within Borehole 5 that showed there was very good organic preservation. Most of the plant remains identified were from aquatic or waterside habitats, the only exceptions being daisy, which grows in short grassland, and black-bind weed that occurs as a weed in waste places and arable ground. The identified invertebrate remains were also of aquatic forms. The watching brief in January 2005 yielded further evidence for the presence of the King’s Fish Pool with organic sediments and at least one wooden structure together with a number of other wooden posts being observed.
Type
Watching Brief
Date
14 March 2002 – 15 March 2002
October 2004 – October 2004
26 January 2005 – 26 January 2005
Creator
York Archaeological Trust
Contributor
G. Dean (Fieldwork)
D. Evans (Fieldwork)
Spatial Coverage
Foss Islands Road
SE61085173
Period
Medieval
Post-medieval
Modern

Position: 5730 (45 views)