York Historic Environment Record

YAT, 2015, All Saints Church, North Street, p13 (Unpublished document). SYO1762.

On the 12th February 1825, the Rector, William Leonard Pickard sold the plot of land north of the church for the sum of £90. A recent act of parliament had encouraged churches to acquire nearby land to receive burials, possibly in
recognition of the historic overuse of ancient churchyards. Consecrated by the Archbishop of York on January 14th 1826, following the removal of existing buildings and tenants, the area became part of the graveyard of All Saints, North Street.
This abrupt change in land use was manifested in a number of adult and juvenile burials, interred on the same north-east/south-west alignment of the church. Archaeology Live investigations in 2015 revealed adult burials typically quite deep, up to 1.00m in depth. Set in narrow cuts, a number of
individuals featured surviving elements of decorative coffin fittings. The adult burials were set in rough north-west/south-east rows and showed no evidence of intercutting. It is therefore very likely that these graves were clearly marked by mounds or headstones.One burial was excavated with a surviving grave marker. This structure comprised of re-used medieval brick and limestone masonry and was un-mortared. At least one grave was found to contain a coffin burial directly over at least one more individual. It seems that family plots were set aside to receive numerous individuals.
A large number of infant and juvenile burials were also encountered. While these, like the adult burials, did occur across the whole site, they were notably concentrated at the southwest end of the plot close to the north-east wall of a 19th century rectory. The reasons for this zoning remain unknown at present. All of these burials featured coffins, with at least one having a poorly
preserved but partially legible name plate with the words ‘aged 0 years’ remaining legible.
These were clearly sanctioned burials, interred by families of at least some means. Whether the concentration of burials again represents re-used family plots, or some form of epidemic event resulting in a surge of infant mortality is another question for further research.