York Archaeology Online Collections

Items

• P0559 Land adjacent to Female Prison, York Castle
  Deposits of Anglo-Scandinavian date were identified. They included a number of burials indicating the presence of a previously unknown cemetery from this period. Two of the burials were excavated and further inhumations could be seen in the sides and bases of features penetrating to a penetrating to a lower level. A number of post-holes which may have been of medieval date were recorded and interpreted as part of a linear structure, which may have been the rampart and timber palisade of one of the post Conquest timber castles. Several post-medieval graves containing articulated human skeletons were excavated. These were probably part of a cemetery for executed criminals who were hanged at York Castle and probably date from the period 1802-1826. A mortar spreads was thought to have been associated with the construction of the female prison. Modern deposits between 0.40m - 1.60m in depth were removed by machine. 18th and 19th century maps indicate that part of the walls of the castle wall were located here, but no remains of it were found.
• P0513 York Castle Car Park, off Tower Street
  Seven boreholes were observed in this area, four of which encountered structural obstructions which were interpreted as likely to have been parts of the walls or foundations of the Victorian prison. In two of the boreholes organic silty deposits and a series of clays and silts were recorded. These boreholes may have been sampling material from the castle ditch and/or from within the river system of the Foss.
• A0802 Clifford's Tower & Tower Street water and drainage trench
  Observations in contractor's trenches largely relate to the Debtors' Prison and modern landscaping of the area.
• A0799 York Castle Museum, gas pipe
  Mainly modern material was observed in a contractor's trench, but some structures of archaeological interest were recorded. Two narrow walls of coursed limestone were separated from a much thicker wall by an area of limestone rubble. All three were sealed by a layer of silty sand which was cut by the foundation trench of a later wall of large grit stone blocks. The grit stone wall aligned with the known position of the Victorian prison.
• A0457 Tower Street
  A limestone wall which may have been associated with the prison defences and a sequence of road surfaces were observed in a contractor's trench.
• P0274 York Castle Car Park
  "Two trenches each 20m long were excavated to locate and investigate the north gate to York Castle. Considerable disturbance in the form of 19th century brick prison walls and a Civic Centre basement constructed in 1939 but never completed had removed all trace of York Castle in this area. However, small areas of archaeological survival were located and contained deposits of Roman through to 11th century date. A compacted surface and two pits were Roman in date. A disturbed hearth and a rubbish pit dates from the Anglo-Scandinavian period. These deposits suggested occupation in the vicinity. A limestone feature of unknown date and function may be attributable to the medieval castle."
• A0781 York Castle Car Park
  "A series of trenches demonstrated the substantial disturbance of the area by foundations and basements for both the 1939 Civic Centre and the 1826 prison. Islands of archaeological survival were identified which suggested that the remains of the castle and earlier deposits are present. The earliest activity identified on the site was three pits cutting natural which dated to the Anglo-Scandinavian period. No other associated deposits were located. Deposits which were interpreted as part of the bailey bank of the castle, and a post-hole which may have held a timber upright associated with the palisade, were the only elements of the castle identified. A brick wall and brick terraces were thought to have been part of a feature of an ornamental garden and were dated to the 16th century. Parts of the Debtors' Prison, 1826, and the basement foundation for the Civic Centre, 1939, were the modern features on the site."
• A0208 Coppergate/Piccadilly/Castlegate, watching brief
  The principal Roman features encountered included the fragmentary remains of a largely robbed out stone building. This has tentatively been interpreted as a warehouse, on the basis of its proximity to the River Foss. Four pits and a linear feature were excavated. A red gritstone wall was observed in the Fossbank area. Its north-east/south-west alignment precludes it from being a riverside wall. A pit dated to the Anglian period which contained the Coppergate helmet was the only feature of this period. Buildings dating to the Anglo-Scandinavian period were found, including the western wall of a structure already identified in the main Coppergate excavation. Associated tenement boundaries and pits were recorded. The recorded medieval features included structural remains, fence lines, riverside reclamation, the outer defences of York castle, and parts of the cemetery of All Saints Pavement. From the post-medieval and early modern periods the most significant discoveries were parts of the cemetery of St Mary's Castlegate, traces of canalisation of the River Foss and part of the footings for the Victorian prison in the Castle Yard.