York Archaeology Online Collections

Items

• P5366 Utility trench, Foss Islands Road, Lawrence Street, York
  Natural deposits were recorded in at least seven of the sections and was generally a firm mid brown clay although in Section 9 it proved to be sand. The Lawrence Street area is known for having sand rather than clay as the immediate underlying natural deposit. The only definite feature recorded was the large linear cut, Context 1055, in Section 9. Although not precisely datable it was possible to demonstrate that it cut directly into natural and was sealed by clean dark build up deposits of probable medieval date. It is probable, therefore, that it is of Roman date but this is problematic since it is in the same location, and aligned similarly, as a possible Roman road heading for the Legionary Fortress. It is far too wide to be a roadside ditch and its function remains uncertain. Moderate to large quantities of animal bone from its lower backfill do, however, suggest that it was used for tipping waste bone. No other definite features were noted during this watching brief but definite or probable build-up deposits were recorded from all the described trenches. The only other context of note was the brick culvert, Context 1011, seen in Section 3. Generally the trenches excavated for this work followed quite closely the line of previous service trenches and overall little damage was done to any archaeological remains.
• P0771 90 The Mount
  An evaluative excavation demonstrated that c. 1m depth of Roman deposits are preserved in the area. In the medieval and post medieval period the area had been used for agricultural purposes and there were two ditches of medieval date which were thought to be larger than boundary markers.
• P0770 Electrical Substation, York Railway HQ, Station Rise
  Deposits seen in the base of some of the deeper intrusions in Trench 1 were thought to be Roman in date. 12th century activity on the site was represented mainly in the form of pits, including possible lime-mixing pits together with possible postholes and clay spreads which could be the remnants of insubstantial buildings away from the medieval street of Tanner Row. Post medieval deposits were found to have been truncated by 19th and 20th century construction.
• 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.
• 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.
• P0730 Yorkshire Water Ducting, Station Road, York
  Modern road make-up deposits were observed to a depth of c. 0.40m below ground surface in a contractor's trench. Beneath this level in situ archaeological deposits were identified but could not be defined or dated.
• P0725 Council Depot, Foss Islands Road
  Eleven machine excavated test-pits were monitored and natural deposits were encountered at a range of heights between 6.20m - 8.65m AOD. Sharp localised changes in the level of natural are likely to have been the result of pits dug for clay extraction associated with brickyards that occupied the site in the 19th century and before. Extensive deposits of post brickyard 19th century refuse were found to cover the whole site and in places this material was more the 2.50m thick. These deposits contained structured vegetation suggesting that they may have been in part laid down in waterfilled clay extraction pits. In one, large quantities of exclusively Roman finds were recovered and this may indicate the survival of earlier ground surfaces in areas between clay extraction pits.
• P0517/P0518 Former Davygate Centre
  A watching brief monitored the excavation of trenches for ground beams to a depth of c. 0.45m below ground surface. No deposits of archaeological interest were encountered during this work. In two trenches, 3m x 3m, excavated to a depth of c. 1.75m below ground surface, there was plentiful evidence of well preserved archaeological features and deposits. Parts of two of the interval towers, SW 1 and SW2, on the south-west side of the Roman Legionary fortress, were uncovered and examined together with a c.10m stretch of the fortress curtain wall. Undefined deposits at the base of the excavation may have dated from the Anglo-Scandinavian period. There was abundant evidence from all parts of the site for occupation and activity in the medieval period in the form of pits, postholes, deposits and clay floors. Although no stone structures were positively identified the stonework under modern footings may belong to a building of this period. Modern activity on the site consisting mainly of concrete foundations and a thick levelling deposit of brick and concrete rubble which covered the entire site. A foundation of very well mortared sandstone blocks may have been a part of the 19th century Methodist chapel which is known to have fronted onto New Street.
• 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.
• P0379 87 Low Petergate
  A modern concrete surface and mixed deposits beneath it were observed. No stratified archaeological deposits were encountered in the 0.60m depth of the contractor's trench.
• P0449 Sewer Repair, 1 Chapter House Street
  Several layers of cobble surface were observed in a contractor's trench. They were interpreted as part of the Via Decumana. No dating evidence was recovered. The surface was sealed by a build-up of later material, presumed to date from the imediate post-Roman period to the Anglo-Scandinavian period. No certain medieval or post-medieval street surfaces were identified.
• P0416 28-30 Coney Street
  Modern material was observed in a contractor's trench.
• P0337 Wall between St Olave's Church and St Mary's Gatehouse, Marygate
  Observations during the restoration of the north-east face of the north-east wall of the gatehouse of St Mary's Abbey allowed a structural history to be suggested. the south-east wall of the former chapel of St Mary was also recorded.
• P0316 45 Heworth Green
  Contractors had covered the excavated area with hardcore before any observation could be made.
• P0311 Sewer Repair, 1 Church Street
  Modern disturbance was seen to a depth of 2.50m below ground surface in a contractor's service trench.
• P0310 Sewer Repair, 12 Church Street
  Modern disturbance was seen to a depth of 2.50m below ground surface in a contractor's service trench.
• P0172/P0498 25 Walmgate
  A training excavation, yet to be reported on.
• P0258 51-57 Gillygate
  Modern material was observed in contractor's trenches to a maximum depth of 0.60m below ground surface.
• P0256 27 Bishopthorpe Road
  No observations were possible.
• P0199 13-17 Coney Street
  Little archaeologically significant information was recovered from observation of seventeen hand-augered test holes.
• P0191 The Court House, Aldwark
  Stratified deposits from two borehole cores 4m deep were observed. Little archaeologically significant information could be recovered from them.
• A0839 Kings Pool, Peasholme Green
  A watching brief was carried out on a number of boreholes.
• A0835 Nicholas Gardens, Lawrence Street
  Medieval deposits were observed.
• A0868 21/23 Bootham
  Modern backfill in service trenches was observed to a depth of 0.90m. Medieval pottery was recovered from a layer of clay beneath, but no archaeological features were observed.
• A0864 Church House
  Natural deposits were observed in borehole cores at approximately 4.4m below ground surface. Above this no dateable deposits were observed but the material was stratified.