York Historic Environment Record

An archaeological evaluation was carried out by On-Site Archaeology Ltd, in May and June 2009, at the site of a proposed development located at West Offices, Station Rise, York. A total of five trenches were excavated in a variety of locations across the site in positions agreed with John Oxley, Principal Archaeologist at the City of York Council, designed to assess the degree of archaeological survival, with particular reference to truncation caused by the construction of the railway station in the 1840s. A trench located within the old trackbed contained only remains associated with the construction of the railway station. Two trenches excavated close to the Toft Green/Tanner Row boundary of the site encountered the remains of a compacted pebbled surface, built directly over the natural. This is likely to be Roman in date and is interpreted as either a courtyard surface or a minor road, parallel to the main road through the colonia. In places this surface lay within 400mm of the modern ground surface. A trench located upon the top of the former station platform revealed a complex sequence of Roman structures, some of which are almost certainly associated with the baths complex recorded during the construction of the railway station. These were cut directly into the natural, and were overlain by deposits associated with the construction of the platform. The Roman structures were found at a maximum height of 13.56m AOD (approximately 900mm below the modern ground surface). The fifth trench was excavated to the rear of the war memorial. This trench contained a small area of medieval deposits, the top of which lay 1.15m below the modern ground surface. These deposits were a total of 0.30m thick and appear to represent the remains of insubstantial buildings. The majority of this trench was occupied by features associated with the railway station construction and use, including an in-situ length of railway track. Although significant archaeological remains have been shown to survive on parts of the site these are not considered to be preserved to such a degree to prevent development from taking place. An appropriate scheme of archaeological mitigation will be required. This should include the adoption of a sympathetic foundation design to maximise preservation of archaeological remains in-situ, together with archaeological excavation coordinated with construction works to enable preservation by record where disturbance is unavoidable.