York Historic Environment Record

Newgate first appears in 14th century but its origins are unclear and may have been a new road or a modification of an existing lane. The row of houses that survive on the north-west side of Newgate (MYO1050 Nos 12-15) are thought to be associated with the foundation of a chapel within St Sampson’s Church. This monument represents those houses that were aprt of the terrace that have been demolished and survived only as subsurface features and deposits. The church may have been founded before the Norman Conquest but the present building was heavily modified through the 19th and early 20th centuries. Evidence for the earlier church was exposed during modification work in 1974 where a wall under the south-west arcade appeared to be Norman. The chapel in the north aisle contained a chantry to the Virgin Mary set up in 1268 and re-founded in 1337 and it is this re-foundation that may have led to the construction of the row of buildings within the churchyard (Raine 1955, 171-2; RCHMY 5, 44).

The row has been studied (Short 1979 and RCHMY5, 170-1) and can be associated with a charter issued in 1336 for their construction. The surviving part of the row (Nos 12-15 forming the north-eastern boundary to the excavations) is thought to have originally consisted of ten or twelve tenements. Based on the standing buildings it is suggested that they were self-contained units with one room on each floor with the upper room open to the roof. Restoration at No.12 indicated the original door would have been on the north-east side with an internal staircase giving access to the room above. Unusually the Newgate row was jettied on front and rear elevations. No 13 and 14 were cut back and heightened in the 19th century.

YAT draft level 4 text (Unpublished document). SYO133.

1979, The 14th century rows of York (Article in Journal). SYO1388.

RCHME, 1981, City of York Volume V: The Central Area, p170-171 (Monograph). SYO65.