York Historic Environment Record

Trenches Three trenches were dug and followed an earlier, recent excavation a few months earlier on the same site. The reason for these further excavations was to answer specific technical questions which were raised due to the proposed construction of a building on this site. The trenches were numbered 8 - 10 and followed on from the previous excavation which saw a total of seven trenches excavated. Trench 8 had its lowest context recorded at 1.25 metres below ground level and revealed evidence for a burial at the basal limits of the trench. Within the trench a land drain thought to be 19th century in date was also uncovered. Trench 9 saw the excavators encounter the remains of the upper part of a coffin at a depth of 1.37 metres. Because of the confines of the trench excavation was terminated at this point as the burial was seen to extend beyond the trench limits. The subsequent analysis of the deposits from the trench revealed that they were as a result of backfilling of the grave cut. Trench 10 was excavted to a depth of 0.85 metres below ground level. Within this trench the foundations of a wall was seen. This structure was thought to be a boundary wall which ran along the northern edge of the churchyard. As this foundation spanned the existing entrance it was concluded that the opening was fairly recent. All other deposits recovered from this trench related to modern surfacing.