Items · York Archaeology Online Collections

Excavations revealed that extensive damage had been done by the mid-Victorian Cattle Market, but Roman pits attested to extra-mural activity. There was some evidence of 11th-12th century metal-working in the vicinity. There was no stratigraphy of Anglian date, however, the excavation's importance lies in this negative evidence which suggests that Eforwic may have been discontinuous settlement with nuclei along the river bank and along certain roads approaching York.

A0685 20-24 Swinegate

Later medieval deposits were excavated over a wide area of the site behind limited modern cellaring on the street front. Three properties on Swinegate were identified and all contained evidence of timber-framed buildings with pits to the rear. A number of extensive dumps containing large quantities of mould and crucible fragments indicate extensive metalworking nearby in medieval times.

A0732 14-20 Blossom Street

A series of five trenches and seventeen boreholes revealed the different character and depth of archaeological levels across this large site. Close to Blossom street the islands of archaeology which survive between cellars consisted of complex deposits of Roman date sealed beneath dumped material of the 11th/12th century, above which were pits and pit fills of later medieval date. At the side of the standing buildings a surface of cobbles and pebbles was identified as a road, although it did not compare well with that excavated by L. P. Wenham in the property next door. To the rear of the building a significant depth of cultivated soil graded gradually from the 19th century to Roman in date.

A0133 118-26 Walmgate

Traces of a post-Roman/Anglian surface were found on this site. A wattle-lined well shaft which dated to the 9th-10th century together with other evidence of occupation suggest a domestic use of the area during this period. Buildings dating to the 11th-12th century showed evidence of metalworking, The area appeared to be levelled in the later 12th century when domestic buildings were constructed, to be replaced in the 13th century with a timber-framed building resting on cobble and limestone sill walls. Internal divisions and alterations together with hearths and a salt box indicated the occupation of this building over a period of time, before it was replaced in the 15th century. A timber-framed building founded on pottery waste, fronting Walmgate, was extended in the 16th century, when a courtyard was also added. Insubstantial additions were made to the building in the 17th century. Evidence of a hearth where ironworking had been carried out was found, and it appeared that the whole of the downstairs of the building was given over to industrial activity. In the area behind the property, in the 16th-17th century, there were numerous clay-lined pits which may have been used in the processing of sheep skins for parchment making. The area was rebuilt in the 18th-19th century with Victorian terraced houses fronting the street, and gardens and out-houses to the rear.