York Historic Environment Record

A watching brief was undertaken to monitor groundworks to the rear of The Churchill Hotel, Bootham, York. Archaeological activity in the area includes the route of Roman Road VII, which lies beneath the modern A19 300m south of the site (Brinklow et al, 94), and the possibility of Roman burials associated with the roads. The original building dates from c.1827 (Pevsner and Neave, 241), with two later extensions forming wings which project northeast-wards from the northern and eastern corners of the original building. The demolition of these later structures revealed archaeological features and deposits which were subsequently recorded. The chambers of the southerly brick structures had no extant or blocked-up entrances, and therefore seem to have fulfilled a purely structural purpose as a foundation for the southerly wing extension to the hotel. The whole structure seems to have acted as a foundation raft against which the groundlevel was then substantially raised as part of the landscaping following construction work in the mid nineteenth century. The smaller chamber in the centre seems to have formed part of the sewer system. The hotel owner suggested that these structures were also used as air-raid shelters during the Second World War. No evidence was found for this, and in the absence of entrances this seems unlikely. The central chamber had been used to store spare drainage pipes and other building materials. No significant archaeological deposits were encountered beneath these structures other than evidence for probable agricultural activity prior to the development of this part of Bootham in the late eighteenth/early nineteenth centuries.