York Historic Environment Record

(20) St. Helen's Burial Ground, Davygate, occupies part of the site of Davy Hall, on the S. W. side of the street, bought by York Corporation in January 1729. In October 1729 the vicar and churchwardens of St. Helen's church proposed to York Corporation 'to cutt of[f] part of their churchyard so far as to answer to the opening of Blake Street and to lay it to the street so as a coach may drive with greater ease and conveniency', but it was not until 1745, with the demolition of Davy Hall, that an alternative burial ground became available. This, about 30 ft. by 40 ft, and walled about, with gates to Davygate, was ready in September 1745, by which time the old churchyard had been levelled and paved and formed part of St. Helen's Square.

The burial ground is slightly raised above street level and is roughly square, having been truncated in road widening. It has been paved, and all surviving monuments except one are lined upright against two enclosing walls. There are eleven monuments, all of sandstone, four of which are incomplete or illegible. Two are of 19th-century date. The 18th-century monuments are: (1) William Peckitt, 1776, and Anna his wife, 1787, the parents of William Peckitt the glass-painter; (2) Jane Coulson, 1785; (3) Edward Greggs, 1795; (4) William Grunwell, 1793, Ann his mother, 1794; (5) Margaret, daughter of Martin and Joanna Burnell, 1787, panel with pediment decorated with half-urns and palmette frieze.

An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in City of York, Volume 5, Central. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1981.

NMR Information

613515 Architectural Survey Investigation by RCHME/EH Architectural Survey

BF060250 ST HELEN'S BURIAL GROUND, YORK File of material relating to a site or building. This material has not yet been fully catalogued.

RCHME, 1981, City of York Volume V: The Central Area (Monograph). SYO65.

NMR, 2019, NMR data (Digital archive). SYO2214.