The domestic buildings along Low Petergate
It was not possible during the excavation to ascertain any link between the standing buildings and the below-ground structures. The standing buildings are possibly contemporary only with the 15th-century and later phases of the below-ground archaeology.
The building survey supports the RCHMY interpretation that parts of the buildings fronting on to Low Petergate date from the 15th century and that they were substantially altered in later centuries. The survey has refined previous interpretation of the buildings by contributing considerably more detail about the overall development of the structures. It has also highlighted particular aspects, such as the surviving remains of a probable 15th-century mullion window in the north-east elevation of Building B, a feature that rarely survives in buildings of this date (Hall 2001, 83). The original 15th-century buildings would probably have had a shop front, possibly with a ground floor workshop, and domestic quarters above.
The excavated building remains
Although less extensive, the remains of the workshop buildings at 62-68 Low Petergate are broadly similar to other medieval building foundations excavated in York (Addyman 1979). Here at Low Petergate the earliest foundations, as in the 13th-century Building 1.3, were made from timber sill beams set upon piles, or comprised timber sills within slots cut directly into the ground surface, as in the 14th-century Building 4.5. These, along with foundations investigated by Wenham, were comparable to those of similar date found at the Bedern (Hall 2001, 86) and at Coppergate (Addyman 1979, 73).
The earlier timber foundations were replaced by stone and brick sill
walls, with the building above the sill wall constructed with timber framing.
This pattern of construction can be seen elsewhere in York, both in excavated
structures and surviving medieval buildings where timber frame building
was the most prevalent construction method.
There were multiple phases of what are interpreted as workshop buildings in the area behind the street frontages. The boundaries between the tenements appear to have remained relatively constant during the medieval, post-medieval and modern periods, although there is evidence that could be interpreted as suggesting that on some occasions adjoining tenements lay within a single tenancy.
Evidence for three urban industries was found at 62-68 Low Petergate; horn, leather and metal working.
It seems probable that there was some degree of interactivity between the industries represented at 62-68 Low Petergate. Metalworking, horn working and leather working were occurring in adjacent backyards, so it is likely that if, for example, knife blades were produced by a smith working in one tenement, the other components such as handles and sheaths might be made by the horn and leather workers in the neighbouring tenements. A fourteenth-century cutler working in Low Petergate would probably assemble these parts and presumably sell them in their own shop (Swanson 1989, 69). The shops fronting onto Low Petergate probably stocked all manner of everyday domestic leather, horn and metal objects made by artisans working close by in the tenements at the rear of the properties.
Horn-working
As with the leather-working activity at 62-68 Low Petergate, there was no structural evidence found during the 2004 excavation that could be associated with horn working.
The dating and the quantities of horn cores from the earlier phases in Tenement 1 are consistent with Peter Wenham's findings from the 1957-8 excavations. Horn is a malleable and versatile material that can be worked until it is thin enough to be transparent, and was put to multiple uses. It is also a very unstable material and some of the objects made may not survive, so the full range of objects being manufactured may never be known. It is clear from the finds assemblage that small everyday objects such as buttons and knife handles were being made.
Leather-working
During the 14th and 15th centuries York built a strong reputation as the primary regional centre for high quality leather goods. Evidence from excavated sites and historical records shows that, during this period, the leather working was a major industry and played a considerable part in the city's economy (Hall, in prep). The assemblage of leather finds from Petergate indicates that leatherworking was an important part of the artisanal activity in the area between Hornpot Lane and Low Petergate; however, no structural evidence was found that could be confidently related to the leatherworking activity.
All of the leather recovered during the excavation came from back-yard cess pits and dumped deposits. The leather was mainly found in the earlier, late 13th - early 14th-century, phases of Tenements 1 and 2, and the activity was found to be both earlier and later than the earliest building foundations. The leather comprised mainly off-cuts and discarded items such as shoes and scabbards, parts of which appeared to have been cut out and re-used, as if by cordwainers.
Evidence from the 2004 excavation indicates that the artisans were producing everyday personal items such as shoes, scabbards and belts. They may also have been re-using leather to make new objects and possibly repairing old shoes for re-sale in the shops fronting on to Low Petergate. Evidence for similar activities has been found elsewhere in leather assemblages in York and more detailed analysis of the Low Petergate assemblage will provide a more detailed understanding of how the activity and the objects compare to that in other areas of the City (Mainman 2003, 3255).
Metal-working
The evidence of manufacturing debris and discarded items reveals that a diverse range of both iron and copper-alloy objects was made at 62-68 Low Petergate. This use of a variety of raw materials is standard in the archaeological record from medieval York, and has been seen, for example, at the industrial site investigated in St Andrewgate (Finlayson 2004). These activities were focussed in Tenements 3 and 4, although there was also some evidence from Tenements 1 and 2. In particular, quantities of small finds, slag, crucibles and mould fragments were recovered. Additionally, and unlike the evidence for other artisanal activities at 62-68 Low Petergate, remains of related structures could be identified. Three phases of furnaces or kilns and various hearth features made from re-used brick and tile were discovered in the south-west part of Tenement 3. Similar structures have been found at other sites in York such as the Bedern (Richards 1993, 176). The precise function of each of these features is unknown, but they probably related either to the tempering or smelting of metals, or the firing of clay moulds. Considering that no slag concretions were found within the features, the latter seems more probable.
The evidence at 62-68 Low Petergate indicates that the metal-working industry was intensive here during the 14th and 15th centuries. The kinds of objects made varied from small items such as strap guides to every day cooking utensils such as copper alloy pots. During the 14th and 15th centuries most households would have at least one metal cooking pot, but the more affluent might have had several metal cooking utensils for use in the kitchen (Swanson 1989, 74). During this period workshop buildings were altered and re-built frequently, possibly reflecting the changing commercial requirements of successive tenants of the site.
Overall, this investigation has contributed significant detail to our knowledge of medieval life at the heart of York, casting welcome additional archaeological light on the ambience of a range of what were standard medieval urban industrial activities.
The full assessment report on the site is available to download here as a pdf file (3.62Mb)