York Historic Environment Record

Archaeological trial trench evaluation undertaken in advance of a proposed surface water sewer upgrade for Portland Street, York. The evaluation demonstrated that the site of the proposed offline storage area contains archaeological remains of Roman and later date, preserved in a series of layers beneath the modern subsoil. These included a possible paludal deposit (laid down in a marshy/waterlogged area) that contained fragments of animal bone, recorded in Trenches 1 and 2. The archaeological deposits continued for a depth of approximately 0.7m below ground level, although they exceeded 1.2m in Trench 4. Each of the trenches contained archaeological features, the earliest being a pit of probable Roman date within Trench 1. No cut features were identified within Trench 2, although the possible Roman-period subsoil was left in-situ. A ditch and pit containing postmedieval material were recorded in Trenches 3 and 5, while a series of demolition deposits containing post-medieval building rubble were recorded in Trench 4 to a depth of at least 1.2m. A possible section of in situ walling was also investigated in this trench.