York Historic Environment Record

In September 2014 York Archaeological Trust carried out the excavation of three small trenches within Block E, the Hungate Phase 2 development area. These trenches were positioned at the proposed location of three lift shafts to mitigate any damage to archaeological deposits during construction. Beneath overburden, layers of mid-20th century levelling were encountered relating to the ‘slum clearance’ events of the 1930s-1950s. These levelling layers were found to overlie intact late 19th-early 20th century archaeology, including a well, a sump and a footpath. Investigative slots into earlier deposits revealed that the late 19th-early 20th century features were cut into Post-Medieval horticultural soils similar to those encountered previously in the Block E excavation of 2006 and across much of the Hungate area.