| York Archaeological Trust Beyond the Walls of York: the Road to Hull | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Other Roman Features |  |
| Apart from the ditches a number of other features and deposits were thought to be Roman. In Evaluation (Trench 7) two intercutting and probably linear features (C7018) and (C7019) were considered to be possibly Roman. The shape and dimensions were uncertain as much of the features lay beyond the limits of excavation. No dating evidence was recovered from either but it is certain that they were cut by features containing pottery of the 11th-12th century. A possible Roman post-hole (C9011) was encountered in Evaluation (Trench 9). This post-hole was partly cut away by a later feature but was probably originally circular and c.0.6m in diameter. It was at least 0.35m deep and much stone, probably packing material, was found in the backfill of compact, mid-brown, silty, sandy clay (C9010). Three deposits (C11123), (C11139) and (C11164) within Trench 11 may also have been Roman but did not produce any dating evidence. Context 11164, in the north-west corner of the trench, was not excavated but may have been the uppermost surviving backfill of a quarry pit of uncertain date truncated by modern building activity. |
| Anglian | |
| No features, structures or deposits were encountered in the evaluation or excavation but three sherds of possible Ipswich ware of the 8th century came from Evaluation Trench 9 and two further sherds of Anglian pottery were recovered from Trench 11. Unfortunately, other dating evidence showed the Anglian pottery to be residual but the recovery of five pieces from such a relatively restricted area may be of significance. |
| Anglo-Scandinavian | |
| There was slight evidence for activity on the site during the Anglo-Scandinavian period. This was most convincing in Evaluation Trench 5 where three possible post-holes or slots (C5013), (C5017) and (C5022), could be dated by pottery to the later pre-Conquest period (9th-11th centuries). No other features or deposits were thought to be of this date, although a backfill (C11018) within the oven (C11057) produced two pieces of 10th-century Stamford glazed ware and a backfill (C11042) in the large medieval ditch (C11055) = (C11064) = (C11098) = (C11102) yielded one piece of Stamford ware. Other pottery dating evidence, however, made it clear that these pieces were residual. |
| Other Medieval Features | |
| Medieval deposits, features and structural elements were recognised in a number of the evaluation trenches. Probable agricultural soils were recorded in Trench 3, (C3021), (C3022) and Trench 4, (C4005). In Trench 5, adjacent to Lawrence Street / Hull Road, possible structural features (C5016), (C5023) and (C5024), post-holes (C5013), (C5015) and (C5021) and a ditch (C5012) running parallel to Lawrence Street were all securely dated by pottery to the medieval period. Three post-holes (C7006), (C7014) and (C7015), and two features of uncertain function (C7010) and (C7012) were excavated in Trench 7, and possible medieval agricultural soil was recorded in Trench 8, (C8003). | ||
| Two possible pits were excavated in Trench 9, (C9004) and (C9006). A third pit (C9009) in this trench was found during the main excavation to be part of the large medieval ditch (C11055) = (C11064) = (C11098) = (C11102) in Trench 11. A fragment of iron knife blade (FSF00004), was recovered from a backfill (C9008) in feature 9009. |
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| In the main excavation area there was little stratigraphy above natural except for remains of modern activity, but two deposits (C11123) and (C11139) were tentatively dated to the medieval period. A few features other than the boundary ditch, the oven and the barrel well were probably medieval. Towards the south-east corner of Trench 11 a possible pit or ditch (C11105) = (C11149) was seen only in section but it may have been c.1.2m or more wide and probably more than c.0.7m deep. Approximately 8m north of this, and close to the eastern limit of excavation, a c.3.5m length of drain or gully (C11122) was identified and partially excavated. It was aligned roughly north-north-east/south-south-west and was found to be c.0.45m wide and at least 0.2m deep, with a concave base. It had been truncated by a later feature (C11120), possibly a post-hole. This may have been square or rectangular, and was at least 0.65m x 0.5m and 0.26m deep. It had been partly cut away by the large ditch (C11098). Clustered around the east end of 11120 were a number of small circular wooden stakes (C11071), (C11072), (C11073), (C11108) and (C11110), none more than c.0.04m across. It was not clear whether these stakes were directly associated with feature 11120 and they formed no coherent pattern. | ||
| Post-medieval | |
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Firm evidence for this period was very sparse in the evaluation, perhaps a result of truncation by
modern building and earth-moving activity. Two sherds of pottery of the 18th
century were recovered from a backfill (C3026) of post-hole (C3027) in Trench 3. A backfill (C4003) in field drain (C4004) in Trench 4 produced medieval pottery and a single piece of 18th-century pottery but both features were believed to be modern, certainly no earlier than the 19th century.
In Trench 10 backfill (C10015) = (C10032) of a linear feature (C10033) aligned north-south, possibly a drain, produced a five pieces of 18th-century pottery although the feature was probably modern. There was a little more evidence for this period from Trench 11. Two irregular banjo-shaped features (C11003) and (C11005), each c.1.2-1.4m long and 0.6-0.65m across, were excavated. Neither was more than c.0.14m deep and they may have been formed by the action of trees or shrubs. These features may date to anywhere between the 16th and 19th centuries. More firmly dated was a ditch (C11022), aligned east-west, and apparently following the centre of the east-west arm of the medieval ditch, (C11055)= (C11064) = (C11098) = (C11102). Much of 11022 lay beyond the southern limit of excavation so it was not fully excavated. It was, however, at least 1.1m wide and 0.8m deep. Some seventeen pieces of 18th- or 19th-century pottery were recovered from the backfill (C11021) of this feature as well as a quantity of residual material including medieval tile and pottery. A small group of deposits (C11137), (C11143), (C11146) and (C11154), possibly dumps or levelling deposits, were believed to be slightly later than features 11003, 11005 and 11022, but they were seen only in section and produced no direct dating evidence. |
| Modern | |
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Remains of this period were, not surprisingly, abundant in both the evaluation and the excavation
trenches. In the former, modern material formed the only evidence, apart from natural, in
Trench 1, in Trench 2, Trench 6A,
Trench 6B. All the evaluation trenches produced some modern material, mainly in
the form of levelling and demolition deposits.
In the excavation, Trench 10 was found to contain almost entirely modern contexts associated with now demolished structures. Buried modern remains were also frequent in Trench 11 and included wall footings, drains and floors. Modern pottery and other finds were frequent. |
