York Archaeology Online Collections

Items

• A0210 St Sampson's Churchyard
  The removal of a number of graves of Victorian date and a quantity of grave soil of post-medieval date was observed.
• A0189 St Denys, Walmgate
  Some observations were made on the changing boundaries of St Denys' churchyard during the post-medieval period.
• A0186 St Martin's Lane
  0.30m depth of material was removed in St Martin's Lane in the course of set laying. The foundation to the churchyard wall of St Martin was observed to be composed of re-used stone, by reputation from Holy Trinity Priory, but no direct linking evidence was found.
• A0151 St Sampson's Church
  A brick wall, which may have been a churchyard boundary wall, and three human burials within the churchyard to the west of St Sampson's Church were observed in a contractor's trench.
• A0120 St Cuthbert's, Peaseholme Green
  Brief observations were made of a churchyard boundary wall, and a section through the churchyard, showing inhumations, in a contractor's trench.
• A0096a 20 Shambles
  Remains of a number of human skeletons presumed to be from the former St Crux churchyard were recovered.
• A0546 St Helen's Square
  Burials were located within what had been St Helen's Churchyard.
• A0450 Haymarket Car Park, Peasholme Green
  A large pit, presumably for clay extraction, had been filled in the late Roman period. The development of the parish church of All Saints, Peasholme Green was investigated and burials both within and to the north of the church were excavated. The church was closed in the mid 16th century and the remains burnt for lime. A weighbridge for the 19th century hay market was recorded beneath the modern car park surface.
• A0016 Walmgate/Willow Street
  A section through the city rampart was examined by this excavation and the natural ground surface appeared to drop at least 2m between the city walls and the churchyard of St Peter-le-Willows. The excavators recorded a charcoal burial and several graves. However, on reassessment of the site archive these features have been interpreted as a charnel pit with the recovery of disarticulated human bone. A cobble surface, which was the medieval precursors to Long Close Lane/ Willow Street was also the likely boundary to the burials. The burials are almost certainly a part of the churchyard of St Peter-le-Willows which lay to the north of the medieval road. The remains of a building were interpreted as part of this church. A building fronting the medieval street front was also found along with several pits and a well. A post-medieval building and cobble surface indicate at least a partial blocking of the street during this period. A Victorian cellar was also encountered.
• A0629 12-18 Swinegate
  "Area excavation of medieval and post-medieval levels was concentrated on the Grape Lane, Little Stonegate and Back Swinegate street frontages. Deep trench excavations were located over areas of maximum destruction to reveal the entire sequence of occupation. Incomplete preservation of the structures of early modern date were revealed fronting Swinegate. These included a rectilinear brick-lined drain, a roughly built limestone structure with a timber and cobbled threshold and a semi-sunken stone-lined feature with a brick floor. An extensive area on the Grape Lane frontage was stripped down to the late 15th century levels. This spanned three properties and a lane. Two of the properties were aligned with their gable end with the street. An area was also stripped at the junction of Little Stonegate and Back Swinegate. On the Little Stonegate frontage the plans of the two properties dating to the early 16th century were recorded. Buildings of this date appear to have been robbed on Back Swinegate and the plans for four of their predecessors were revealed. In the deep excavations the backyards of the four properties running between Swinegate and Petergate were investigated and showed evidence of cess pits, dumping and cultivation as well as two alleys of different dates running between the two streets. Between these deposits part of the medieval cemetery of St Benet's church was excavated. In all 27 inhumations were removed, the majority being within oak coffins. The church became redundant in the first quarter of the 14th century. Roman levels were encountered in 2 deep trenches beneath the cemetery was an extensive metalled surface, possibly a palaestra or a parade ground within the Roman fortress. This overlay a timber floor of interleaved planks, which may have been used for mixing mortar within the fortress when the fortress was rebuilt in stone, and a robber trench for a stone wall. Below again were pits and post-holes from the earliest timber structures on the site. In the second trench a limestone wall measuring over 1m wide with an offset foundation course was excavated. It was aligned north-north-west/south-south-east and was associated with a number of subsidiary walls and compact surfaces of clay and crushed stone and mortar. These features are clearly part of a substantial late Roman building of some importance, although its function is uncertain. The investigation of foundation pile positions continued following the main excavations. This was necessitated by the discovery of burials presumed to be within the cemetery of the church of St Benet. A total of 99 inhumations was removed from trenches designed to investigate the limits of the cemetery. Many of the burials were within oak coffins; the lid of one was decorated with an incised Nine Mens Morris board. Further masonry walls of Roman date, parts of the legionary fortress were encountered."
• 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.