York Archaeology Online Collections

Items

• P0854 Former D C Cook Garage
  The site of the former D.C. Cook car showrooms in Lawrence Street, York, was the subject of an archaeological evaluation in 2001 and an excavation early in 2003. Roman ditches were identified and excavated and there was some evidence, in the form of pottery, for the Anglian period (8th/9th century). The site appears to have been occupied from the 12th century and features of the medieval period included a large boundary ditch, a barrel lined well and an oven. During the post-medieval period evidence for activity on the site lessened considerably but a ditch and possible horticultural features were uncovered, as was much evidence for the 19th century and later use of the site. Investigation of plant and invertebrate remains gave a very rare view of rural conditions on the eastern edge of York.
• P0638 14 Skeldergate
  Three boreholes and six test pits demonstrated that archaeological deposits on the site survived to a height of c. 1m - 1.50m below ground surface. Sandy silts deposited in the medieval period were recorded in two of the test pits. Brick walls, probably of 19th century date, were also encountered. A watching brief observed the excavation of thirteen trenches dug to underpin a wall of a property to the southern edge of the site together with a series of pile trenches. In these trenches there was evidence that an undisturbed sequence of deposits dating from the Roman, Anglo-Scandinavian and medieval periods survived on the site. The quality of evidence recoverable from pile trenches was compromised by the method of excavation. Little dating evidence was recoverable and it was difficult to make comparisons between the stratigraphy in each pile trench. Since the quality and archaeological potential of these deposits had already been established by evaluation work carried out in 1991 it is surprising that only a watching brief with limited recording was specified as the requirement for this site. Timbers driven in to the upper surface of natural sands were observed to be sealed by layers of laminated clays and cobbles possibly representing surfaces. These are likely to date from the Roman period. Anglo-Scandinavian pottery was recovered from some of the material interpreted as occupation deposits but it was not possible to determine the scale of activity in this period. Deep deposits of organic build -up were dated to the medieval period. Two massive limestone walls were recorded. The exact relationship between the two walls was not possible to determine due to disturbance from the piling operations, but they were bonded with identical mortar indicating they had formed parts of the same structure which could have been a riverside building or a series of retaining walls. Part of the wall aligned east west had already been excavated in 1991 and was founded on a raft of horizontal timbers and dated to the 12th-early 13th century. Deposits accumulated to the north of the wall indicated intensive occupation, and comprised a culvert and a series of dumps. Those to the south of the wall represented a series of build-up deposits. Further walls were recorded and interpreted as internal walls of a separate structure. A substantial wall was built directly above this second structure and this wall was interpreted as the eastern wall of a riverside building, possibly a warehouse. A series of sand deposits dating to the 13th -14th century sealed all the structural elements. Further dumps were recorded and appeared to derive from demolition sources. A hearth and floors together with a robbed wall indicated continued occupation of the area. In the 14th-15th century there was a change in the type of hearth constructed on the site. Four almost identical circular brick lined ovens or furnaces were constructed and suggest industrial activity. Structural elements and occupation deposits continued to be represented into the 15th-16th century. Relatively little post medieval material was recorded on the site and any found was on the lower terrace of the site. A number of brick cellars or cellar infills were seen across the site and dated to the 19th or 20th century.
• P0788 41-49 Walmgate
  The area investigated formed part of the Walmgate street frontage and the associated backyards. Excavations with Time Team Live involved reopening an evaluation trench excavated in 1990 (1990.26) and extending it eastwards. Two post and wattle walls found were interpreted as belonging to adjacent buildings fronting Walmgate and dated to the Anglo Scandinavian period. Organic preservation in deposits from this period was good. Elements of late medieval and post medieval buildings were recorded including a hearth. Four test pits were excavated for engineering purposes and were recorded archaeologically. In these, deposits from the early post medieval period were recorded close to the existing ground surface. Elements of medieval or early post medieval buildings were identified. Underpinning work on the modern building occupied by a shop, together with service trenches, were also recorded. A larger scale excavation in 2000-2001 recorded a sequence of occupation from the Anglo Scandinavian through to the post medieval period. Timber buildings dating from the 10th to the 13th century were revealed to have been followed by a sequence of timber framed buildings dating from the 14th to the 20th century. Evidence of a 300 year history of metalworking, copper alloy casting and smithing, on this site was also found.
• A0738 2 Coffee Yard
  "The excavations took place in and around a standing medieval building while building restoration and redevelopment work were taking place. Fragmentary evidence was found for structural activity prior to the construction of the hall and hospice ranges. Limited dating evidence suggests a 13th-14th century date for this activity. A stone-lined well was found to the south-east of the hall and in addition tile hearths were found close to the south-east entrance of the hall's screen passage. This indicates that the arrangement of the buildings associated with these hearths, which were last fired in the period 1320-1380, must have differed greatly to the layout of the 14th century hall and hospice ranges, which has continued to the present day. A foundation of the south-west wall contained pottery which dated it to the 14th century. There was evidence of further structures associated with the hospice range, which may represent a building fronting on to Stonegate. The building called the 14th century hall was a rectangular building with a hall to the north-east and a service range at the other end, separated by a screens passage. The 14th century building was demolished, and some of the material robbed from its foundation trenches was likely to have been used in the construction of another hall in the 15th century, which was slightly wider than the earlier building. The presence of a very large tile hearth south-east of the hall indicates the presence of a large building adjacent to the hall(s). Archaeomagnetic dating suggests the hearth was last fired in the period 1360-1390, indicating that the hearth and associated building was contemporary with the 14th century hall. This dating does nothing to dispel the notion that the hospice and the 14th century hall were built in one operation in or soon after 1360. Bricks in the final floor surface indicate that the south-east range was still in use in the 16th century; this implies that the south-east range was retained in the 15th century rebuilding of the hall. A concentration of pit and linear cuts in the screens passage are thought to indicate a change in use to a public right of way. No dating evidence was collected from these features. Levelling deposits dating to the 17th century were recorded in the courtyard area. A brick structure had been constructed in the eastern corner of the courtyard. This was demolished and replaced in the 18th century. An oven was built in the cellar of the building forming the north-west side of the courtyard probably in the 18th century."
• A0624 35-41 Blossom Street
  The earliest activity on the site comprised five ditches, the most substantial of which was interrupted by a causeway. These may form parts of a Romano-British enclosure and field system. Nearer the line of the main road south from Eboracum some of the ditches were cut by rubbish pits; other pits may be associated with industrial activity, perhaps metalworking. The ditches and pits were backfilled with, and sealed by, an extensive mid 3rd century deposit which may represent rubbish brought out from the colonia and deliberately dumped to raise the ground level before the site became a cemetery. One cremation and 31 inhumations were recorded, the latter representing three phases. The first phase comprised four infants. Later a rectangular mausoleum was constructed; at least four burials were made within it and one or two outside it. After going out of use the mausoleum was robbed down to its foundations and in a third phase 21 burials were recorded, some of which cut the backfilled robber trenches of the mausoleum. This last phase of burials seems to date from the 4th century or later. Some of the skeletons were damaged by ploughing after the Roman period as the area was used for agriculture. Some medieval and later rubbish pits were dug behind the properties fronting on to Blossom Street and a number of medieval boundary ditches were found together with the base of an oven/kiln/corn drier.
• A0087 Aldwark, adjacent to 1-5
  The earliest traces of occupation on this site date to the 1st century AD and come from traces of timber buildings which were replaced with stone buildings in the 2nd century. Later Roman occupation was not recorded on the site, and the next period of activity, following a clearance, occurred in the 11th century and was represented by three cobble spreads, cut by two slots, and by some pits. Roman defences were refurbished with the formation of a clay and brushwood bank which overlay the cobble spreads, and to the south of it a ditch of U-shaped profile, some 7m deep, contained material which dated it to the 12th-13th century. Buildings dating to the 14th century on the Aldwark street frontage with hearths and ovens were recorded. It appears that the defensive bank or rampart was heightened during this period. 14th-15th century buildings with backyards and a barrel-lined well, which was superseded by a square well in the 15th-16th century, continue the medieval tenement development in the area. Post-medieval buildings indicate slightly less intensive occupation and so reusing of the medieval building materials.
• A0013 21-33 Aldwark (St Helen's) (Ebor Brewery)
  Roman occupation was found to date from the 2nd century onwards on this site. The earliest feature was a road aligned north-west/south-east with flanking ditches. Its make-up was probably derived from the Borthwick kilns 100m away. A new cobble road with roadside ditch was constructed in the late 2nd or 3rd century. A timber-framed town house with walls of painted plaster and a polychrome mosaic floor was erected at a road junction. Associated hearths and an oven were found. These date to the 4th century. Several later pits were found to have cut through the mosaic floor. The foundations of the parish church of St Helen-on-the-Walls were constructed on top of the Roman building. The earliest church, a small rectangular single-cell building was stone built with a mortar floor and overlay the mosaic floor of the 4th century Roman town house. This probably late 10th century church was later extended by the addition of a square chancel. A succession of earth and mortar floors accumulated within it during the 12th century. Further alterations were carried out. In the late 14th or early 15th century the church was almost entirely rebuilt as a rectangular structure, slightly wider, but the same length as its predecessor. Further additions were made during the 16th century. The church went out of use c.1550 and was demolished shortly afterwards. Burials inside the church and in the churchyard associated with the five phases of church development were excavated. Approximately two-thirds of the original churchyard was excavated and over 1000 individuals were recovered.