York Archaeology Online Collections

Items

• P0854 Former D C Cook Garage
  The site of the former D.C. Cook car showrooms in Lawrence Street, York, was the subject of an archaeological evaluation in 2001 and an excavation early in 2003. Roman ditches were identified and excavated and there was some evidence, in the form of pottery, for the Anglian period (8th/9th century). The site appears to have been occupied from the 12th century and features of the medieval period included a large boundary ditch, a barrel lined well and an oven. During the post-medieval period evidence for activity on the site lessened considerably but a ditch and possible horticultural features were uncovered, as was much evidence for the 19th century and later use of the site. Investigation of plant and invertebrate remains gave a very rare view of rural conditions on the eastern edge of York.
• P0780 53 Piccadilly
  In the eastern part of the site archaeological deposits had been truncated by late 19th century buildings which have subsequently been demolished. In the western part of the site a series of dumps was seen to slope down towards the west, following the natural topography of the site. Pottery recovered from this material had a date range from the Roman period to the medieval period but the date of deposition is thought to be later medieval or post medieval.
• P0535 Herriot Centre, 23-25 Kirkgate, Thirsk
  In the area closest to the street frontage the remains of amedieval pit was encountered. The majority of the emainder of the material recorded dated from the post medieval period and comprised evidence of a robbed wall, part of a yard surface and garden soil. A 19th century brick feature may have represented a well. 20th century garden features were also recorded.
• P0575 St Saviour's Church, St Saviourgate
  A programme of building recording was undertaken in advance of repair work to the tower and east end of the church.
• P0412 43 Blossom Street
  Observations were made of the removal of a varying depth of deposits, to a maximum of 2.50m, in the course of replacing floors at this property. Beneath the Victorian floor levels these deposits were interpreted as a series of dumps which dated from the Roman period. A post medieval brick lined well was also encountered.
• A0859 The Retreat, Heslington Road, (Naomi Ward)
  A well lined with limestone and approximately 4m deep was observed.
• A0778 Parliament Street, tree planting pits
  Post-medieval and medieval stratification was observed in tree planting pits.
• A0760 Theatre Royal well
  A photographic record was made of a stone-lined well located under the modern stage.
• A0452 36 Coney Street
  A fragment of wallpaper dating to 1750 was recovered.
• A0465 Theatre Royal
  A medieval stone-lined well which was probably associated with St Leonard's Hospital was observed in the basement of the Theatre Royal.
• 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.
• A0220 117 The Mount
  A post-medieval barrel-lined pit was observed and interpreted as a well used for water storage, for the purpose of fire prevention associated with the Civil War sconce.
• A0195 18/20 Stonegate
  A well, thought to be of post-medieval date, was observed.
• A0114 Jorvik Hotel, Marygate
  A well, thought to be of post-medieval date, was observed.
• A0111 16 St Saviourgate
  Backfilled well capped with a re-used 18th century? mill stone was observed in the course of excavations in a rear garden to this property.
• P0788 41-49 Walmgate
  The area investigated formed part of the Walmgate street frontage and the associated backyards. Excavations with Time Team Live involved reopening an evaluation trench excavated in 1990 (1990.26) and extending it eastwards. Two post and wattle walls found were interpreted as belonging to adjacent buildings fronting Walmgate and dated to the Anglo Scandinavian period. Organic preservation in deposits from this period was good. Elements of late medieval and post medieval buildings were recorded including a hearth. Four test pits were excavated for engineering purposes and were recorded archaeologically. In these, deposits from the early post medieval period were recorded close to the existing ground surface. Elements of medieval or early post medieval buildings were identified. Underpinning work on the modern building occupied by a shop, together with service trenches, were also recorded. A larger scale excavation in 2000-2001 recorded a sequence of occupation from the Anglo Scandinavian through to the post medieval period. Timber buildings dating from the 10th to the 13th century were revealed to have been followed by a sequence of timber framed buildings dating from the 14th to the 20th century. Evidence of a 300 year history of metalworking, copper alloy casting and smithing, on this site was also found.
• 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.
• A0846 All Saints School, Nunnery Lane
  "Two parallel shallow ditches aligned north-south and containing Roman pottery of 1st-3rd century date were located in a single trench 5 x 2m excavated in advance of the construction of a classroom extension. The proximity of the Roman cemetery found at 35-41 Blossom Street suggested that a burial found on this site may be of the same date. However the single burial was recorded within a deposit containing both 13th/14th century pottery and an 8th century styca. The burial, most of which lay beyond the confines of the trench, was aligned east-west and was at a similar height above Ordnance Datum to burials within a Roman cemetery. A number of thick build-up deposits dated to the medieval period and were cut by a post-medieval stone-lined well."
• A0318 5/7/9 Aldwark
  The foundation of a part of the fortress wall, a construction pit for a stone-lined well, some small pits and some clay which may have been part of the rampart were observed in contractor's pits.
• A0445 Assembly Rooms, Blake Street
  A small scale excavation took place along the line of a structural weakness visible across the building. Ephemeral traces of a possible Roman military timber building were observed, sealed by a cobble surface; above this were garden-like deposits, cut by a late medieval well.
• A0010 Leadmill Lane
  Observations were made of an area cleared by mechanical means. Late 1st and 2nd century pits were found near to the assumed junction of roads approaching from the south-east. Disturbed cobbles may have been part of a Roman road. Pits containing waste from bone and antler working dating to the Anglo-Scandinavian period were observed. Additionally debris from a wattle and daub structure was found to date from this period.
• A0742 47 Blossom Street
  "Roman deposition on this site was represented by a series of dumps of demolition derived material and other rubbish. Additionally, a cobble foundation, dating to the 3rd century, revealed some structural activity. A series of dumps, dating to the medieval period, sealed this foundation. They were cut by two pits. The modern features encountered on the site beneath the yard surface were a brick-lined well and a drain."
• A0006 Skeldergate, Pawson's Warehouse (SK)
  The excavation showed that the strip of land between Skeldergate and the River Ouse had been reclaimed c.1305 and that the present limestone river wall dates from this period. Some 6m behind it there was a similar parallel wall, and the walls were founded on tree trunks sunk in the late 13th century river bed. The area between the two walls had been filled with sand and the space between the inner wall and Skeldergate had been levelled up. Warehouses were built on the site, in the heart of the dock area of York, in the later medieval and post-medieval period, the demolished 17th century structure being the last in the series.
• A0133 118-26 Walmgate
  Traces of a post-Roman/Anglian surface were found on this site. A wattle-lined well shaft which dated to the 9th-10th century together with other evidence of occupation suggest a domestic use of the area during this period. Buildings dating to the 11th-12th century showed evidence of metalworking, The area appeared to be levelled in the later 12th century when domestic buildings were constructed, to be replaced in the 13th century with a timber-framed building resting on cobble and limestone sill walls. Internal divisions and alterations together with hearths and a salt box indicated the occupation of this building over a period of time, before it was replaced in the 15th century. A timber-framed building founded on pottery waste, fronting Walmgate, was extended in the 16th century, when a courtyard was also added. Insubstantial additions were made to the building in the 17th century. Evidence of a hearth where ironworking had been carried out was found, and it appeared that the whole of the downstairs of the building was given over to industrial activity. In the area behind the property, in the 16th-17th century, there were numerous clay-lined pits which may have been used in the processing of sheep skins for parchment making. The area was rebuilt in the 18th-19th century with Victorian terraced houses fronting the street, and gardens and out-houses to the rear.
• A0086 The Bedern, north-east
  Traces of Roman structures were excavated in an area truncated by post-medieval cellaring. The earliest medieval feature was a barrel well, truncated by a ditch which dated to the first part of the 13th century. These features were superseded by four phases of building which pre-dated the building of the college. The first building was represented only by a deposit of ash covering heavily burnt clay. The area appears to have been left derelict for a period prior to the construction of a second building. This building was represented by clay floors interleaved with layers of charcoal. Part of a stone wall was the only evidence of the stone building which superseded the probably timber built buildings. The stone and cobble foundations of three walls of the fourth phase of building survived. A hearth and cess pits were also recorded. This last phase of building was levelled. The land had been acquired by the mid 13th century by the College of the Vicars Choral. Two buildings have been identified as associated with the first phase of College occupation of the site. The most impressive of these was a large aisled structure parallel to the north-east side of The Bedern. The timber-framed walls were set upon continuous limestone sill foundations. Various small construction spreads of limestone rubble and cobbles were associated with this building. Occupation of this building was evident from a number of contemporary latrine pits and other pits. Towards the end of the 13th century internal modifications to the early buildings of the college began. Over the next fifty years the college underwent an almost continual round of alterations and rebuilding. From the middle of the 14th century there was extensive remodelling of earlier buildings and the construction of several new ones. The continued expansion of the college and the need to upgrade the accommodation probably led to this move. In the period from the later 14th century - early 15th century there was further rebuilding, on a slightly different alignment and with walls almost twice the thickness. Associated cess pits and rubbish pits were located. No major building was constructed during the period from the mid 15th century until the early 17th century. Some of the buildings fell into decline. A 16th century building in the north-eastern part of the site was demolished and there appeared to be little sign of other new activity on the north-east side of Bedern Close.