York Historic Environment Record

A watching brief was undertaken by On-Site Archaeology on behalf of Wrigley Property Developments Ltd, during construction of flats at 22 Fetter Lane, York. The groundworks included three shallow, mechanically excavated trenches, and a total of 45 rotary drilled piles, to a depth of 20m. The trenches were sited over modern intrusions and archaeological material was not disturbed during their excavation. A sample of 18(?) of the piles were monitored to contribute to a deposit model and to observe the locations and depths of any obstructions. Particular care was to be taken to observe for damage to mosaics that would have been observable within the removed pile cores. The level at which natural was encountered varied considerably across short distances, suggesting that the site may have been subjected to terracing and major ground reduction during construction of substantial Roman basemented buildings. Towards the rear, northern,edge of the site, a number of the piles encountered significant obstructions, which are likely to represent elements of major Roman buildings, similar to those excavated on the adjacent former Queen's Hotel site. The majority of the site was covered by a considerable depth of waterlogged archaeological deposits, potentially containing the remains of buildings, of Anglo-Scandinavian or Medieval date. In places this material was found within less than 1 m of the modern ground surface. By limiting the impact of intrusive groundworks, to that caused by the piles themselves, it has been possible to develop the site whilst preserving what is clearly an important sequence of archaeological remains.