York Historic Environment Record

A medieval cemetery dominated the archaeology of the adjacent development site [Fishergate House], separated only by the route of Blue Bridge Lane itself. This belonged to the hitherto ‘lost’ Church of St Helen, Fishergate. Distinct from St Helen on-the-Walls, this church was listed among the pre-Conquest foundations of the city, as it was granted to Holy Trinity Priory in 1086 as an existing church and toft.46 A radiocarbon assay of two of the earliest burials laid out in stratigraphic ‘strings’, returned dates of ad 680 to ad 890 (GU-12719) and ad 940 to ad 1050 (GU-12722) (Tab 1). The first was unexpectedly early and suggests the presence of an inhumation cemetery contemporary with, and adjacent to, the Anglo-Saxon settlement remains. The origins of the church, already known to pre-date the Conquest, may actually belong to the middle Anglo-Saxon period. Identification with the church of St Helen, Fishergate draws the site into the wider cult traditions of this saint, the mother of Constantine, which gained particular currency in the region from the middle to late Anglo-Saxon period.

CA Spall and NJ Toop, 2008, Before Eoforwic: New Light on York in the 6th–7th Centuries (Article in Journal). SYO190.