York Historic Environment Record

On-Site Archaeology was commissioned by Perio News Limited to carry out an archaeological desk-based assessment in support of an application for planning permission to redevelop a plot of land at James Street, York. The site is located approximately 250m to the east of the historic core of York, on the west side of James Street, close to the junction of James Street and Hazel Court. This assessment of the archaeological potential of the site has indicated that the site is likely to lie within, or close to the southern edge of, the Kings Fishpool. The King’s Fishpool was artificially formed by the damming of the River Foss, in the late 11th century as part of the castle and city defences. To the east of the fishpool medieval landuse was limited to agricultural activity. Roman archaeological evidence within this area has been limited to scattered remains of inhumations and cremations. The majority of these were discovered in the 19th and early 20th centuries to the north of the site. Modern archaeological investigations have failed to identify intact Roman funerary remains. It is likely that medieval and later landuse has severely disturbed or destroyed any Roman burials. From the 19th century features associated with the brickmaking industry may be present and it is possible that this industry may also be reflected in evidence for earlier periods. The site is may also contain evidence for the late 19th century railway and associated features. The use of the site during the 19th and 20th centuries is likely to have lead to a degree of truncation of earlier deposits. The site is unlikely to contain archaeological remains of such significance to prevent the proposed development from being granted planning permission. The proposed development is to comprise the construction of a large single building. Although this may employ limited numbers of pile foundations, the potential for vibro-compaction of the existing made ground is being explored. The remainder of the site will be used for surface car parking. A drainage attenuation tank is also likely to be required. The archaeological monitoring of the geotechnical investigation has provided an early opportunity to evaluate the sequence of deposits on the site. This has suggested that whilst the site may contain elements of the Kings Fishpool these deposits are sealed by a substantial thickness of recent deposits of no archaeological significance. The results of the archaeological monitoring of the geotechnical investigation would indicate that the impact of the development upon archaeological remains is likely to be minimal. All construction works could therefore be contained within the recent dump deposits.