York Historic Environment Record

The excavations for the new South Range annexe provided a glimpse of Roman occupation to the south of the Roman fortress, in the form of a series of fine metalled cobble surfaces, thought to be located relatively close to the proposed trajectory of the main Roman river crossing. The thickness of this surface, however, strongly suggests a yard surface as opposed to a road. It is possible though that later truncation, possibly landscaping for medieval horticultural soils, had removed part of a more substantial road surface. The area surrounding the Guildhall appeared to have been largely open ground throughout the medieval period, as evidenced by horticultural soils present within the interventions of the South Range. Potential external floor surface, located within Trench 1 immediately northwest of the North Annexe Tower, suggests a potential structure once existed within the yard area of the North Annexe. This will have likely been significantly demolished and levelled, as evidenced by the presence of demolition rubble spread across the wider area both in the internal and external areas of the North Annexe Tower. Deep deposits of made ground material uncovered during the external interventions, in particular the excavation of the attenuation tank, indicate a tremendous effort to raise the ground, prior to the construction of the 19th-20th century elements of the Guildhall and surrounding complex.