York Historic Environment Record

Two trenches were excavated, both focused on the Little Stonegate (formerly Swinegate) street frontage. They revealed a complex development history of timber-framed structures on the street frontage, within which metalworking took place. The structural history of these buildings was unravelled and the character of occupation in the-immediate vicinity was investigated. In so doing the development of the site from the 13th to the 20th century was traced. The earliest deposits uncovered within the stipulated depth limits were tentatively dated to the 10th to the 12th centuries and consisted of ashy occupation deposits. Horticultural or agricultural soil was then dumped across the whole trench area, possibly to seal the earlier occupation deposits and to raise the ground level. A sequence of pits dated to the mid 13th century and used primarily for the disposal of cess, domestic and industrial waste then partially truncated the area. Between the mid/Late 13th and the early 14th century a set of foundations was constructed, parallel to the Little Stonegate street frontage (Building 1). These were very roughly constructed of clay, tile and limestone blocks, and are interpreted as footings to support the horizontal sill beams for several small, probably single-storey, timberframed cottages, laid out in a planned fashion on the Little Stonegate frontage. The evidence suggests that these cottages were partially used as craft workshops. To the rear of the property the backyard area was used for dumping domestic waste. In the mid 14th century many of the original stratified internal occupation deposits were cleared out prior to further occupation. In summary a complex series of timber-framed buildings was built, rebuilt and renovated as the needs of their inhabitants changed. Artefactual evidence suggests that these particular properties were also very important in the medieval and early post-medieval metal-working craft industry, and were utilised for the production of copper and copper alloy objects from at least the 14th to the 17th century. Work carried out here includes the casting of large circular vessels such as cauldrons, bowls and basins and other objects such as brooches and pins (INTERIM 1998).