York Historic Environment Record

A programme of archaeological evaluation by trial trenching was undertaken on 22nd & 23rd February 2022 on the site of a proposed new garage to the rear of Garforth House, Micklegate, York. The excavation of the trial trench recorded two major phases which could be either the levelling of demolition debris or the importation of demolition debris for ground raising. Both of the layers of debris exhibited a degree of layering related to the tipping of individual loads of material. Both deposits contained large amounts of ceramic building material in the form of fragmented 18/19th century brick, pegged flat roof tile and 19th century pantiles. In addition to the ceramic building material a wide range of pottery types dating predominantly from the 15th to later 19th/early 20th century was recovered from both deposits. The trial trench was excavated to a maximum depth of 1.5m below the current ground level (12.88mOD) at which point the lower deposits could still be seen to be continuing downwards. The site lies in an area of high archaeological potential with both significant Roman and medieval remains being discovered in the immediate vicinity. The results of the evaluation shows that the significant archaeological remains in the area of this site are at least 1.5m below the maximum depth of the trial trench.