York Archaeology Online Collections

Items

• P1296 House and Son
• P1214 Land Adjacent To St Saviour's Church, Hungate, York
  Between 13th and 22nd September York Archaeological Trust undertook an archaeological evaluation excavation at land adjacent to St Saviour’s Church, Hungate, York in order to assess the date, nature, preservation and quality of any archaeological remains on the site. The evaluation revealed a complex sequence of burials, structures and occupation deposits, and road surfaces dating from the 11th - 12th century to the present day. There was also evidence of possible earlier Roman, Anglian and Anglo Scandinavian activity on the site. Significant archaeology, including the burials, lay relatively close to the modern ground surface but is at present generally well preserved and has great potential as an archaeological resource for revealing and understanding the development of this area of York over the last 2000 years.
• P5616 York Allotment Archaeology Project
  This project started in April 2012 in response to a request from Scarcroft Allotment Assiciation Committee for a Finds Identification Day. Andrew Jones, Kurt Hunter Mann and Emma Turner (a Bradford University Placement) recorded and photographed finds from several plot holders and local residents. A possible prehistoric macehead (or loom weight) was identified, Roman pottery and a lead sling shot, medieval pot sherds, a York made clay pipe (JS) and more modern finds were recovered.
• P5424 Land to Rear of Festival Flats
  Evaluation (Ian Milsted): Two evaluation trenches encountered possible Roman terracing cut into natural deposits. Also present were a probable Roman ditch and occupation soil, which was truncated by medieval activity including rubbish pits which produced 11th-12th century pottery. A substantial 19th century ground make-up deposit sealed all earlier activity and there was some limited evidence of later structures. Watching brief (David Evans): During these works no finds were recovered. Due to a redesign of the construction of the new car parking area the only area where it was considered likely that any significant archaeology might be encountered was towards the base of the new ramp but examination of this area when exposed revealed that modern drains had removed most of any archaeology that may have been present. No features were observed here or elsewhere and the overall strip did not fully penetrate clearly modern deposits. A small amount of the medieval agricultural soil was removed during the excavation of the ramp but other than this it is not believed that archaeological deposits or features of any great significance were disturbed and features such as those recorded in the evaluation remain buried below the new car park.
• P5420 15 Monk Bar Court, York
  A quick inspection of the site showed that at the location of the borehole demolition material had been used to raise the ground level within a now demolished building by at least 1.4m. Below this Context 1005 may represent the remains of a floor within the demolished structure. Below this level the slightly clayey silts, Contexts 1002 – 4 almost certainly represent medieval build-up deposits, certainly a small fragment of 12th century gritty ware was recovered from Context 1002. The depth and nature of the clean clayey sand deposit indicates that this is almost certainly Roman stratigraphy. This directly overlay the natural clay which lay at a depth of 4.6m below the level of Monk Bar Court. The observed sequence matches quite well other sequences seen in the area and indicates that below modern and possibly post-medieval disturbance there are intact deposits of at least Roman and medieval date on the site. The observations of the test pits were less productive mainly due to their relatively shallow penetration into possibly disturbed material. It was, however, noted that the foundations of the walls being investigated were very variable in depth, those in Test Pit 2 coming to an end just 0.05m below the existing ground surface compared to 0.3m in Test Pit 4.
• P0698 4-7 Parliament Street
  A lift shaft had been excavated without any archaeological monitoring. Three sections of the shaft were recorded. This archaeological salvage work recorded a considerable build up of deposits dating to the Anglo-Scandinavian period on a site which is located mid way between the Viking Age streets Ousegate and Jubbergate. Remnants of six wattle fences or walls were revealed in section and at least one of them was likely to represent part of a building. The remaining deposits, all of which were waterlogged and largely organic, were likely to have been dumped material in and around buildings located in what was likely to have been a back yard area of a property.
• P0694 1-1a Low Ousegate
  Well preserved organic deposits presumed to be of Roman to post medieval date were recorded in four boreholes and five test pits.
• P0772 NCP Car Park, 64-76 Skeldergate
  Eight boreholes and three trial pits were observed, and well preserved organic deposits were recorded in all of the boreholes and one of the trial pits. The deposits were dated from the Roman to the medieval periods. Evidence of natural terraces lying parallel to the River Ouse was noted. These terraces had been enhanced with thick levelling deposits in the Roman period and there was evidence that substantial Roman buildings may have stood on these terraces. In addition there appears to have been a valley along the north west side of the area indicating the presence of a tributary stream that ran down to the River Ouse. Further deep, complex and well stratified deposits were encountered in all nine evaluation trenches and included waterlogged organic remains. Very intensive occupation of the site was recorded for the period 11th-15th/16th centuries. Deposits related to structural remains of buildings fronting Skeldergate together with back yards where pit digging and dumping had occurred.
• P0647 Hungate Development (Phase 1)
  A desk top study identified the likelihood that archaeological deposits would survive over all of the site and the deposits would include well stratified and well preserved waterlogged organic remains, of high archaeological value dating from Roman times to the post-medieval period. The area is known to have contained a Carmelite Friary, two parish churches, the Guild Hall of the Shoemakers and a Holy Priests House. A watching brief of an extensive borehole survey recorded material which was interpreted as dumps and occupation deposits dating from the Roman and the Anglo-Scandinavian periods together with alluvial silts representing the River Foss and the infilling of the King's Fishpool in the later medieval period. In parts of the site significant medieval and post medieval occupation deposits were also noted. See also 2000.1-14 YORYM for entry relating to excavation of this site.
• P0738/P0765 Land off Hungate, Pickering
  A desk top study identified a dearth of information for the archaeological and historical development of Pickering and uggested that it was not possible to acuarately predict the survival of below ground archaeological remains with the study area. Structures on the site were associated with the Rillington to Pickering branch of the Scarborough Railway, and dated from its construction in 1845. Machine excavated test pits were observed and medieval and post medieval depsits were seen to survive on the site in the area closest to the Hungate street frontage.
• P0532/P0574 BHS Store, 44 Coney Street
  Archaeological work carried out in advance of the construction of escalator pits revealed extremely well preserved remains of the Roman legionary fortress wall standing to a height just below the modern floor surface. The fortress wall appeared to be retained as a landscape feature well into the 13th century, and although the wall was robbed and material built up against its sides during the medieval period, it continued to be used as a property boundary in to the 20th century. Occupation of the Feasgate frontage was represented by a series of pits which indicated the disposal of butchery and leather working waste which were dated to the early 12th - 13th century. Timber and clay lined pits which had been truncated by later pits may have been associated with tanning or textile dyeing trades. A complex series of beam slots, which was thought to be the remains of a timber framed outbuilding or byre, dated to the 12th century. Medieval deposits had been partly truncated and post medieval deposits completely removed by the construction of the modern shop.
• P0587 Land off Ousegate, Selby
  The earliest feature observed above the natrual sub soil was a substantial ditch which may have had a defensive function and appeared to have been cleaned and well maintained before it became redundant. The fills of the ditch were dated to the 2nd or 3rd century and were followed by a series of episodes of levelling. Another ditch of Roman date ran at right angles to the larger ditch and was interpreted as a boundary or drainage ditch. This ditch was also backfilled and this action was followed by evidence of levelling. Ocupation deposits and a foundation for a building of uncertain date were recorded. Dumps dating from the 12th century were found to be cut by pits and ditches. Industrial waste, incuding waste form metal working had been disposed of in some of these features. There was abundant evidence of medieval building and occupation and it appeared that the medieval boundaries had continued to be respected by a succesion of buildings into the post medieval period. Buildings dating to the 17th/18th century, some with cellars occupied the site.
• P0510 1-5 Davygate and 9 Little Stonegate
  An evaluative excavation recorded deposits which dated from the 10th to the 20th century and demonstrated a complex development history of occupation with timber framed buildings and workshops where metal working took place. The upper levels had been disturbed by 19th century service trenches and modern construction on the site. A larger scale excavation of the area uncovered a sequence of occupation of the area from the 10th - 18th century. Including the complex development history of timber-framed structures part of which were workshops in which metal working seems to have taken place during the period 13th - 18th century. A watching brief found further evidence of medieval occupation including a hearth together with timber lined pits and dumps in backyard areas. A further watching brief monitored 140 separate machine excavated interventions which allowed the provisional reconstruction of the ground plan of a Roman barrack block. Anglo Scandinavian occupation deposits were recorded together with medieval occupation and sutuctural remains on the Little Stonegate and Davygate street frontages.
• P0283 Land to the rear of St Andrewgate/Spen Lane
  Excavations reached a maximum depth of 1.80m below ground surface. The earliest deposits excavated dated to the 12th century. These comprised a surface and build-up above it in the western part of the site, probably representing a period of neglect. The first indications of a building fronting St Andrewgate were the remains of a floor and an internal division. These dated to the 13th century. A timber fence line and dumped material including stable manure also dated to this period. In the later 13th/early 14th century over a widespread area material was allowed to accumulate and dumped prior to the renewal of structural activity. At the western end of the excavation two adjacent buildings fronting St Andrewgate were identified. A deliberate levelling of the whole area occurred in the 14th century. Domestic refuse was dumped and disposed of in pits. Further building, either two adjacent buildings or one divided building, fronting St Andrewgate, was identified, following similar alignments to earlier properties. The occupation of the building(s) continued through the 15th century and was represented by hearths, a series of floors and internal building divisions. Part of the building was used as an industrial workshop. Mould fragments suggested the casting of metal, and hammer scale indicated the use of an anvil. A pit feature may have acted as a quenching pit. Numerous internal alterations were made to the buildings though the medieval period. To the rear of these buildings a ditch was identified dating from the late 15th / early 16th century. It may have acted as a property boundary, or an open sewer, although its fill gives no evidence of this function and it appeared to have been deliberately backfilled in one operation. Pits were found in the area behind the buildings and suggest the relatively intensive use of the "backland" area for the disposal of rubbish, although traces of a structure in the form of beam slots were also identified in this area. In the mid 16th century a mortar and tile floor was introduced in the building fronting St Andrewgate which sealed the possible quenching pit. A cess pit or soak-away also dated to this period. Metal-working waste was found in an area which may have been the backyard of the re-organised building. Further structural alterations were made, including a substantial re-build of the building. Foundations which may have been the base for a sill beam supporting a timber-framed building were revealed. At some point after this alteration metal working was again carried out within the building. Occupation of the building continued through the 16th century and was represented by a series of mortar floors and hearths. In the area behind the property there was a rough uneven yard surface, evidence of pit digging, and a property boundary defined by a series of post-holes, which were replaced by a later series. In the late 17th/early 18th century these were backfilled and a widespread levelling deposit covered the eastern part of the site. Alterations and occupation of the building fronting St Andrewgate continued through the post-medieval period. A stone-lined well was encountered near the St Andrewgate frontage. In the modern period the area was occupied by a chemical factory, a building suppliers and a scrap yard. Watching Briefs : Timber building and road surfaces were observed in contractor's trenches in St Andrewgate, and demonstrated that in the Anglo-Scandinavian or medieval period St Andrewgate was narrower than the modern road. A medieval wattle-lined pit and a cobble surface were observed during a watching brief which confirmed that the area towards Spen Lane was open land to the rear of properties fronting St Andrewgate. A well was found which was similar to the one found within the main excavation. The watching brief carried out while pile holes were excavated collected evidence of mortared limestone structures and cobbles and clay c. 3-4m below the ground surface which were intepereted as likely to have derived from buildings and occupation dating from the Roman period. A horizon of organic deposits across the site probably represented evidence of Anglo-Scandinavian occupation. Deposits from the medieval period encountered during the piling were seen to be similar to those recorded more fully during the excavation and derived from street front occupation of St Andrewgate and Spen Lane together with the development of gardens and yards with associated dumping of domestic and industrial waste behind in both the medieval and post medieval periods.
• P0360 St Mary's Tower, Marygate
  A concrete and brick foundation of a structure, which may have dated to the 1940s when there was a military presence in the tower, was encountered. Also associated with this period a dump deposit was found to contain a large number of processed meat tins and a skeleton of a cat. No evidence was found relating to the construction of the Tower itself within the depth of the contractor's trenches which were a maximum of 0.60m below ground surface.
• P0283 Land off St Andrewgate/Spen Lane
  Occupation derived and dumped deposits of post-medieval and modern date. Possible medieval structures were identified 0.20m below ground surface.
• P0200 Bootham Park Hospital
  Natural deposits were encountered at approximately 1m below ground surface. Above this an undated occupation deposit was observed but modern construction truncated any other archaeological deposits.
• P0181 18 Clifford Street
  The cores from two boreholes on this waterfront site were observed. Natural deposits were encountered approximately 9.50m below ground surface. The material above it was interpreted as medieval occupation deposits and post-medieval levelling.
• A0818 3-5 Victor Street
  A series of three boreholes may have located the edge of the bailey ditch to the Old Baile. To the north probable medieval occupation deposits were found at a depth not threatened by development.
• A0499 Clifton Methodist Church
  Roman pottery was recovered from a contractor's trench but no structures were seen.
• A0452 36 Coney Street
  A fragment of wallpaper dating to 1750 was recovered.
• A0417 St Andrewgate/Bartlegarth
  Strip foundations were observed in advance of development of the site for housing. Deposits of similar character to those excavated on adjacent Bedern sites were seen.
• A0291 Minster Gates
  Stone foundations for cast iron bollards were observed along with disturbed service trench backfill in a contractor's trench. There was no evidence for a gatehouse to the Minster.
• A0269 Lord Mayor's Walk/Gillygate
  Two post-medieval wells and the site of clay pipe firing were observed to the rear of the property.
• A0175 25 Coney Street
  A medieval or early post-medieval riverside building and associated slipway were recorded. Roman levels were observed in contractor's trenches. Many medieval architectural fragments were recovered from the garden area.