Tenement 3, Behind 66 Low Petergate
Phase 3.1
The earliest layers in Tenement 3 were a series of occupation, dump and levelling deposits, derived from nearby metalworking activity (Phase 3.1). These were characteristically mottled purple, orange and red in colour, and a mixture of silty sand, ashy clay, or sandy clay, with varying levels of charcoal content. The colouration indicates that they had probably been subjected to intense heat, either in situ or prior to deposition.
Phase 3.2 (Building 3.2), 3.3, 3.4 = Phase 4.7
The building
Building 3.2 comprised a foundation for a timber sill (Phase 3.2) aligned
parallel to Low Petergate and butting up to the south-east wall of Building
4.7 (Phase 4.7). The foundations were c. 3.3m. long and 0.3m. wide, and
made from limestone and brick fragments. The foundation formed the north-east
wall of a building or enclosure (Building 3.2), within which a series
of furnaces were built.
The features
Within Building 3.2 there were two curious metal-working related features.
One of these was a long narrow surface made from edge-set tiles, constructed
against the north-east wall of Building 3.2. It was aligned parallel to
Petergate, measured 3.3m in length and 0.4m in width and appeared to have
been built at ground level. The use of tile fragments, typically used
in the construction of medieval hearths in York, indicates that the surface
needed to withstand high temperatures. This low level was presumably the
safest working height for handling dangerous materials. A possible interpretation
is that this surface was used to stand moulds whilst they cooled, having
been filled with molten metal from the nearby furnaces.
Isabel Mason and Katie Tucker excavating edge-set tile feature
Nearby there was a large furnace or kiln made from brick and tile, cobbles and irregular limestone fragments. In plan it was c. 3m long and 1.6m wide and had an inner passage and central flue made from edge-set tiles.
In the north-east part of Tenement 3, built up against the south-east wall of Building 4.7 (Phase 4.7), there was a small edge-set tile hearth c. 0.9m in length and 0.4m in width which had been truncated on one side by a large pit. On the surface of the hearth there were the remnants of a use deposit. At each end of the hearth there was a post-hole, suggesting that it may have had a smoke hood or cover. Other features found in the north-eastern part of the tenement consisted of a large brick-lined latrine pit and the patchy remnants of tile hearths that had been truncated by later pit cuts.
Use deposits
The metal working structures in Phase 3.2 were overlain by a series of
deposits (Phase 3.3) with orange-red discolouration and a high charcoal
content resulting from in-situ heating. As such they probably represent
the last phase of use of the Phase 3.2 features. They, in turn, were overlain
by a thin layer of levelling deposits of stiff clay and a number of demolition
deposits (Phase 3.4). Some of the layers appeared to have derived from
the demolition or collapse of the Phase 3.2 structures. A large pit had
been cut through the edge of the flue of the large furnace. It was circular
in plan, c. 1.4m. in diameter and contained a series of backfills, the
composition and colour of which suggest they that were derived from metalworking.
Phase 3.2 furnace or kiln in Tenement 3
Phases 3.5 and 3.6, furnaces and hearth
A second complex of industrial furnaces or kilns was found along with a substantial tile hearth (Phase 3.5) overlying the levelling deposits in Phase 3.4.
The hearth covered an irregular area c. 2.6m. long and 1.2m. wide. At its north-east end (the end furthest from Low Petergate) there were two brick and tile furnaces or kilns. The smaller furnace or kiln measured c. 0.9m. long and 0.6m. wide; the larger was 'light-bulb' shaped in plan, c. 1.9m. long x 1.2m. wide. The base of this feature had slumped into the subsided backfills of an underlying pit (Phase 3.4) and was therefore c. 0.3m. deeper at the east than the west end. In the centre of the slumped base the bricks showed signs of concentrated heat damage from firing. The debris that was found within the furnaces or kilns suggests that these were metal-working related structures. Whether these features were used as furnaces for heating metals or as kilns to fire clay moulds is uncertain, although further research may allow a more refined interpretation.
After the Phase 3.5 features went out of use and were covered over by a series of twenty four levelling, occupation, and demolition deposits (Phase 3.6).
Phase 3.5 tile hearth
Phases 3.7 and 3.8, possible tenement boundary or building (Building 3.7)
On the ground levelled in Phase 3.6, a wall was built along the boundary between Tenements 3 and 4, and a second phase of furnaces was built (Phase 3.7). The remains of the brick wall, approximately 0.48m. in length and 0.28m. wide, were found in an alignment parallel with Hornpot Lane. In addition to two post pads they comprised the only remains of the north-west wall of the building. This abutted the north-east wall of Building 3.2 (Phase 3.2) at right-angles, thereby forming what appeared to be a structure or enclosure and the party wall between Tenements 3 and 4.
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Phase 3.7 kiln or furnace overlying earlier Phase 3.5 features |
Overlying and truncating the top of the 'light bulb' shaped furnace in Phase 3.5, there was another furnace or kiln (Phase 3.7). It was a similar shape and had a brick edging similar to the earlier furnace, but had no brick base, and was presumably a re-build following the subsidence of the earlier phase of furnace. As with previous furnaces these features went out of use and, in Phase 3.8, were covered over by a series of sandy silts and clays which contained ash, charcoal and were discoloured by heating. |
Phase 3.9, 3.10, third phase of furnaces and casting pits
In Phase 3.9 yet another furnace was built following the disuse and levelling off of the furnaces in Phases 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7. The structure was made from brick and was c. 1.6m. long and 0.6m. wide. Overlying the furnace there were layers consisting of ash, silty sand and clay, derived from the firing and use of the furnace.
To the south and south-east of the furnace there were the remains of a brick floor. This was probably the last phase of workshop floor in the sequence of furnace buildings. A number of post-holes, presumably structurally related to the construction of the furnace, were found nearby, although their precise function could not be ascertained.
Four small rectangular pits were dug south-west of the 3.9 furnaces. Each pit measured c. 0.5m. in width and c. 0.1m. in depth. Pits such as these were probably for casting; within them, sand would be used to stabilise the mould whilst an object was cast.
Possible rectangular casting pits (right of picture)
Phase 3.11, 3.12, levelling and dump deposits
The furnace, floor and casting pits went out of use and a period of levelling and dumping followed in Phase 3.11. Meanwhile, on the other side of the north-east wall of the furnace complex, numerous inter-cut pits were being dug, rubbish was being dumped into them and an accumulation of dumps and pit fills covered over earlier features such as the lined cess pit and hearths in the north-eastern part of the Tenement 3.
Phase 3.13, Building 3.13
The pit digging and dumping came to an end, and the use of the north-east part of the tenement changed when a small square building (Building 3.13) was built over the old pits and accumulated dumps. Partial remains of limestone block wall foundations were identified. Some of the structure had been lost through later truncations, but the outline of the building and its rusty red-brown occupation deposits could clearly be seen covering a footprint c. 3.2m wide. Finds from the occupation deposits indicated that the structure had probably been used for a metal-working purpose, and dated to the 15th or 16th century. Demolition deposits overlying the building remains indicate that the building went out of use and was demolished in the 18th century.
Building 3.13
Phase 3.14 -15 and 2.8 (Building 3.14)
The final building phase (Phase 3.14) in Tenement 3 was a substantial 17th or 18th century building. The foundations projected north-east from the rear of 64 and 66 Low Petergate (Building 3.14). The foundations were made from limestone blocks on timber piles (Building 3.14).
At the time it was constructed, access to Building 3.14 appears to have been via a passageway between Tenements 3 and 4. When compared to the evidence from the building survey (Geddes and Mason 2004) this was probably built around the time when the main buildings, fronting onto Low Petergate, were apparently owned by the Talbot family (RCHMY 5 189). From the structural evidence it appears that numerous alterations were made during the 17th and 18th, and the construction of Building 3.14 was most probably the catalyst for the insertion of a passageway between the properties. There were a number of walls, culverts, floors and yard surfaces that were associated with Building 3.14 in both Tenements 3 and 4.
Sometime after the construction of Building 3.14 a culvert was built. It was more than 15m in length, made from brick and re-used stone (Phase 3.15) and ran from the north-east to the south-west of the site. The builders had broken through the foundation walls of Building 3.14 (Phase 3.14), so that it could pass underneath the building.
Building 3.14
Flagged path alongside Building 3.14 leading to passage between 64 and 66 Low Petergate