York Historic Environment Record

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by On-Site Archaeology Ltd on an area of land at Royal York Hotel, York in October 2015 on behalf of Troy Management Services (Royal York) Ltd. The evaluation consisted of the machine excavation of a trench (Trench 1) and the hand excavation of a further trench (Trench 2) to investigate any archaeological features or deposits located within the area of the proposed development. Geological natural was not encountered in either of the two trenches. The deepest excavation was within Trench 1 that reached a depth of 12.62mAOD. The evaluation revealed a subsoil horizon of probable Roman date that was cut into by three pits of a similar date. Stratigraphically above the pits was a sequence of buried soil horizons the earliest layer may have Roman origins with later disturbance from post-medieval and early modern activity. Above this possible soil horizon the deposits encountered probably date from the late medieval/ post-medieval periods when this area of York was agricultural fields, the construction of the hotel and the modern period when this site was either landscaped gardens or more recently a car park. A further phase of evaluation will need to be carried out on this site to establish the nature, extent and depth of the archaeology below the level reached in this phase of investigations. The implementation of any further work can be secured by a condition attached to the grant of planning permission.