York Historic Environment Record

Evidence concerning the route of roads passing through or near the Guildhall site (2020 excavation) is at best inconclusive.
However, even today there is an appreciable slope down from the front of the Mansion House to the Guildhall behind it, so it may well have been the case that the flat area uncovered at the South Range was one of few convenient areas available for the road to pass. Wherever the routes of Roads 2 and 5 ran what is clear is that they in effect bypass the fortress on its south western side granting the burgeoning 3rd century settlement south-east of the fortress direct access to the new river crossing and flourishing settlement south-west of the river while avoiding the fortress, access to which may have been increasingly restricted during the residence of Septimius Severus at York in 208-11 (York Archaeology 2024).

NRHE information:

RR 801 Roman Road. York - Clifton (1 mile).
The main road Bootham was evidently a Roman street leading direct from the north-west gate of the Roman fort (SE 65 SW 1) but recent work in the playing fields of St Peter's School has disclosed another road running parallel ( See Authority 2 below). (1)

Road 5, from the north-west enters the city south of the Shipton road (SE 5850 5367 on insert map). Opposite the entrance to Homestead Gardens in Water End (SE 5910 5295) the road, 24 ft. wide, was exposed in 1893 in a sewer trench at a depth of one and a half feet. On the same alignment the road was found in 1954, north-east of St Peter's School Swimming Baths (SE 5945 5256). It was composed of cobbles and clay and approximately 25 ft wide. Extension of the alignment would pass through the gateway of St Mary's Abbey; the grounds of which included the site of an `ancient street' according to a 13th century document. The road was clearly designed to pass in front of the fortress to the south-west gate (possibly linking up with RR 2e - LINEAR 272 and RR 28c - LINEAR 291)

Road 6 linked Road 5 with the north-west gate of the fortress and probably left Road 5 diagonally near Clifton Croft (SE 5982 5252). `Concrete' foundations discovered in 1893 in the Bur Dyke (SE 593 528) may belong to it. A road with a base of heavy cobbles, which had been repaired and widened with building rubble was found in a drainage ditch west of St Olave's School (SE 595 527) in 1954. The road reached Bootham opposite Bootham Terrace (SE 5982 5252) where it changed alignment to follow the line taken by the modern Bootham road. During excavation for a sewer in 1893 the road was found at three points: where it changed alignment opposite Bootham Terrace, opposite St Mary's Abbey (SE 599 524) and south-east of Marygate (SE 600 523).

Road 7 preceded Road 5 on a direct alignment with the north-west gate from a point outside the city (SE 5865 5370 on insert map). In 1929 road-metalling was found near the fountain on Clifton Green (SE 5932 5302) and in front of the White House (SE 5968 5262) in April 1960. (2)

The destination of the road is not mentioned in Margary or RCHME text but the Diagram Showing Approach Roads (Fig.2) of the latter, mark it `From Cataractonivm (Catterick)'. There is no evidence of a continuation of the road north-westwards beyond the points given by RCHME. (3-4)

1 Roman roads in Britain 427 1973 Thomas Codrington
2 An inventory of the historical monuments in the City of York. Volume I: Eburacum: Roman York 2,3 1962 Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, England
3 VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION Richard Mead/20-OCT-1995/RCHME: Archaeological Recording
4 VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION Ordnance Survey Linear Archive File RR 801 in NMRC

RCHME, 1962, Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of York, Volume 1 Eboracum, P2 (Bibliographic reference). SYO62.

Road 5 from the NW enters the city at NG 588533 south of Shipton Road. Its course from the lane at the back of Homestead Gardens to Water End was formerly marked by a parish boundary now obsolete. Opposite the entrance to Homestead Gardens in Water End the road was exposed in 1893 in a sewer trench. SE of Water End the road was marked by another parish boundary (now also obsolete). The road probably passed through the Abbey grounds to the SW gate and the river crossing.

York Archaeological Trust, 2018, Sycamore Place WB & EXC (Unpublished document). SYO2165.

Patrick Ottaway, 2023, The Burdyke and Roman roads approaching York from the north-west in relation to some recent watching briefs in Clifton (Unpublished document). SYO3029.