York Historic Environment Record

The cemetery was constructed in an area that had seen activity from the Roman period through to its establishment in the late C12. The cemetery is considered to be roughly rectangular in shape, and associated with ditched features on three sides, interpreted as boundaries, one associated with stone deposits forming a possible wall. The location of a fourth boundary is unknown, but is thought to lie further east in an unexcavated area beneath the current carpark, or was provided by the River Foss. Partial excavation of the ditched features showed that they are between 1.2m to 2m wide, and up to 1m deep; one example had been re-cut several times on the same alignment. Running parallel to the north-eastern and south-western boundaries are gullies about 0.2m wide and about 0.12m deep, which are considered to be the remains of possible flanking fences; one of these was partially excavated and provided evidence of a pair of stake holes. Partial excavations also revealed that the north-western and north-eastern ditched features had been deliberately infilled, and a row of burials subsequently placed over their line; on the north-east side there was a second row outside of the former ditch, and then a single outlier, and on the north-west side a single outlier. The south-west side had a single outlier. There are considered to be about 550 burials remaining in-situ and undisturbed within unexcavated areas. Graves are orientated north-east to south-west, and are generally regularly spaced and placed in rows. These graves are expected to occur with the same density as was found within the excavated areas. Most burials are thought to be inhumations and are generally supine. They will conform to the excavated graves which were rectangular and of varying depths. Some were quite shallow and others up to 1.2m deep, but the majority of excavated graves were around 0.4m deep. Length of grave varies depending on the size of the individual. Most individuals are buried within wooden coffins with metal nails, and some are associated with metal coffin fixings. The graves are thought to have been originally marked, probably by stones. The remains of about 500 individuals which were excavated in the early 1980s and individually re-interred in a plot at the southern edge of the cemetery remain there today. EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: this includes the full extent of the area subject to excavation in the early 1980s in advance of the construction of the three-storey car park, which also includes the outlying burials. The reinterment plot on the south-west side containing almost 500 individuals is also included in the scheduling, and on this side the scheduling boundary is formed by the inner edge of the pavement. The archaeologically sensitive area beyond the 1982 excavations on the south-east side, extending as far as the inner edge of the pavement, is again also included in the scheduling as no potential boundary to the burial area was identified on this side. A variable margin around the known extent of burials of between 2m and 15m is included within the scheduling on the north-east and north-west sides in order to ensure the adequate protection of the remains, and in order that the boundary of the scheduling can be mostly identified on the ground. EXCLUSIONS: all above-ground features are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground below these features is included. REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION Jewbury medieval Jewish cemetery is recommended for scheduling for the following principal reasons: * Period: the cemetery is of critical importance to our understanding of the small, but significant medieval Jewish population of York, where there is little other evidence for it; * Rarity: medieval Jewish cemeteries are very rare, with only 10 having been positively identified in England, and none are as extensively understood as this one; * Documentation: the site is very well documented through a range of post-medieval maps and medieval, and later, historic documents, in addition to it being the most extensively studied of all medieval Jewish cemeteries in England; * Survival: late-C20 excavation demonstrated that the cemetery remains are well preserved and that about fifty percent of all graves remain undisturbed, associated with what are considered to be boundary features; * Potential: given the exceptional nature of the population sample, the burial ground has the potential to inform a range of questions about the nature, extent and longevity of York Jewry, the cemetery layout, and burial practices.