York Historic Environment Record

Between 25th April 2023 and 11th September 2024 York Archaeology (YA) undertook an archaeological watching brief on a number of trenches and trial holes in York City Centre. This work was undertaken the City of York Council. The groundworks were in advance of the proposed hostile vehicle mitigation measures which involved the installation of both static and sliding bollards. A total of 10 locations were excavated, with each location consisting of an excavated area for the bollard installation and where sliding bollards were to be installed, and a ducting trench to allow cables to attach to the bollards. Archaeological features were encountered in seven of the locations, consisting of possible medieval road surfaces, disturbed medieval soils, evidence for medieval craft-working activities, disarticulated human remains and a partial articulated skeleton, also of probable medieval date. In addition, post-medieval and modern structures were observed. Preservation at the different sites varied greatly with a number of the sites containing only modern intrusions and services, whilst those locations which did contain archaeological features were also heavily truncated by modern services.