York Historic Environment Record

An archaeological watching brief at St William’s college carried out during the underpinning of the stair tower. The area monitored was situated to the rear of the college with the underpinning work being done to the north-eastern side of the tower. Deposits identified varied in date with the earliest being Roman in date right through to the Anglo-Norman period. Within the ground beam, underpinning and drainage trenches a complex series of deposits were uncovered. These related directly to the structural development of the college buildings dating to between the 13th and 15th centuries. Evidence recovered also showed that a series of Medieval and Post Medieval outbuildings once stood on this site and also strong evidence for garden paths were observed. The construction of the stair tower in the latter half of the seventeenth century was instantly recognized, curiously though evidence for small scale industrial activity within the garden area dating to the early to mid eighteenth century indicated the possibility of the presence of a craft workshop during this period. NMR sources: Church archaeology Society for Church Archaeology 78 4/2000 Medieval archaeology : journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology Index to vols 1-5 (1957-61); 6-10 (1962-66); 11-15 (1967-71); 16-20(1972-76); 21-25 (1977-81); 26-30 (1982-86); 31-35 (1987-91); 36-40 (1992-1996) 315 44/2000