York Historic Environment Record

Between 21st January and 16th August 2007 York Archaeological Trust carried out an archaeological evaluation in advance of the redevelopment of Block D, part of the Hungate (York) Regeneration Ltd (HYRL) scheme. The earliest deposits encountered in all three trenches were naturally formed deposits. The wet sand encountered in the base of Trench D2 may indicate that the area of evaluation lay close to a paleochannel of the prehistoric or later course of the River Foss. No evidence was located for the Roman cemetery known to exist to the west of Dundas Street and, indeed, for any definite Roman activity on site, although considerable quantities of rolled and abraded Roman pottery were found as residual material in later contexts. Slight evidence for the Anglian period, in the form of a handful of handmade sherds of pottery, was recovered from this evaluation although no deposits, structures or features could be assigned to the period. There was considerable evidence for the Anglo-Scandinavian period, particularly in Trench D3, where as well as deposits and features, structural remains in the form of stake holes and post holes were excavated in some quantity although no coherent building could be resolved from them. The evidence for this period was securely dated by pottery and seems to represent casual exploitation of this marginal area thought to lie on the periphery of the Viking-Age town of Jorvik. The medieval period was well represented in all three trenches although pottery evidence has suggested gaps in the activity at different times from trench to trench. Clay extraction, possibly for the manufacture of pottery brick or tile, appears to have been a focus of activity in Trench D1 whereas the principal activity elsewhere seems to have been the digging of rubbish pits for the disposal of domestic waste and the digging of other pits as cess pits. At no point was there any substantial evidence for structural activity during this period and it would seem that most, if not all, activity ceased during the 14th century. A small amount of pottery and glass suggests limited exploitation of the area during the post-medieval period when there is documentary and cartographic evidence that the area was mainly used for agriculture or horticulture. Soils which seemed to be representative of such activity were encountered in all three of the trenches and within Trench D3 a circular well, possibly of post-medieval date, was found immediately below one of the 19th century structures. The structures of the 19th century, with their 19th and early 20th century alterations and modifications, were noted in all the evaluation trenches although only in Trench D3 were they well-preserved. The structural remains in Trench D2 were far removed from the main structural activity towards the street fronts and probably represented outbuildings and orchard/ boundary walls. Whilst in Trench D1 major clearance activity of the first half of the 20th century had removed much of the 19th century housing known to have existed in the area. Modern exploitation of Block D was abundant and included demolition and levelling deposits, drains and other structural remains associated with the former Northern Electric Distribution Ltd depot.