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P5508 71-73 Goodramgate
A two-trench evaluation at 71-73 Goodramgate revealed extensive midden deposits of 13th century date at 2m BGL/14.30m AOD. A 14th century building with evidence for 16th century demolition and alteration was found, along with evidence for the disposal of local metal working waste from the 15th century into the post medieval period. An 18th/19th century clearance truncated these remains, which were sealed beneath extensive 19th century ground make-up deposits. The lowest midden deposits were waterlogged and contained organic remains with an extremely good level of preservation. Subsequent boreholes revealed a further 3.25m of deposits overlying natural at 5m BGL/c.11.10m AOD.
A0552 1-9 Micklegate [Queens Hotel]
The excavation concentrated on the investigation of Roman deposits in two areas threatened by clusters of piles for the proposed development. In one deep trench close to Fetter Lane an early 2nd century drainage ditch running approximately east-west down towards the River Ouse was found 8m below the modern ground level. It was cut into the underlying natural clay and had been backfilled with organic midden material. This contained quantities of leatherwork and pottery which may be associated with the legionary occupation of the fortress. Above were earth floor deposits also of 2nd century date, which were cut by a 2.5m deep stone wall foundation, clearly for a substantial building. Foundations presumed to be for the same structure were also found in excavation trenches further towards Micklegate. The walls above these foundations had been completely robbed and the area levelled with dumped layers of clay and rubble prior to a second phase of construction, also dated by pottery to the mid 2nd to early 3rd century. Walls of this phase of the building survived to a height of 3.5m above their foundations and were up to 2.2m thick. Three tile-lined arched openings, two of which had been blocked in the 4th century, had been incorporated in these substantial walls. Their function is uncertain, as is that of the building itself, although there may have been large flues within the basement of a bath complex. Evidence for a succession of opus signinum floor deposits survived above the level of a drain which crossed the building immediately below the level of the arched openings. The majority of the floor had been robbed in the 4th century prior to the laying of stone paving within the building. The paving was sealed by a layer of building rubble 1.5m thick which contained a few sherds of 4th century pottery and represented the deliberate infilling of the building following its demolition. In the top of the infill were found human burials which it is hoped to date by radiocarbon. Regularly spaced post-holes, 1.3m apart, cut into the upper surface of one of the demolished walls, are assumed to have been for a timber building at least 10m long and orientated on the Roman street plan. These produced no dating evidence although nearby pits cut from the same level contained pottery sherds of Anglian date. Structures of the 9th-10th century, orientated on the modern street plan of York, sealed the surviving tops of the Roman walls.