York Historic Environment Record

York Archaeological Trust undertook monitoring of window sampling and cored samples in advance of development of a proposed pumping station at the site of the Foss Barrier, St. George’s Field. A brief for the work was provided by James Goad, Principle Heritage Consultant of CH2M Hill. The Ground investigation works were overseen by White Young Green (WYG). Hand-dug inspection pits and window sampling was undertaken by Exploration Ltd and JB Site Investigations Ltd undertook the cable percussion coring element of the works. Natural geological deposits were encountered at depths ranging from -1.7m AOD to 0.4m AOD. A succession of archaeological deposits was found to have occurred above natural. The earliest dateable deposit was a dark brown silty coarse sand containing abraded sherds of 2nd and 3rd century pottery. Overlying natural deposits in Borehole 3 it ranged in depth from c.0.0m AOD to c.1.7m AOD. Elsewhere alluvial material was generally found overlying the top of the natural sequence. Where lower alluvial silts and sands were observed they extended up to a point between 0.2m AOD and 0.8m AOD. Across the northwest/southeast transect ranging from 0.0m AOD to 3.0m AOD, an extensive zone of medieval waste disposal was evident, this dumping was observed to seal the lower alluvial accumulation, Roman deposition and natural geology. Above the refuse dumping thick accumulations of silts and land reclamation/landscaping take over. Broadly attributable to the medieval period these deposits extended to c.6.6m AOD. More recent landscaping and land reclamation has brought ground level close to its existing point.