York Historic Environment Record

The remains of a large Roman building, traces of smaller buidings and an extensive cobbled surface were discovered during excavations at the former Starting Gate public house at 42–50, Tadcaster Road, close to Roman road 10 in 2003. This was in addition to three burials and roadside ditches.

The excavations at The Starting Gate site are clearly of some importance in terms of what they can add to a growing body of evidence relating to the suburbs of major Roman settlements in Britain as a whole and more specifically to the history of York. The remains uncovered indicate limited activity in the area prior to AD 150, then a period of highly intensive land-use from AD 150–200, with declining activity from the early 3rd century onwards. There were no features on site that could be securely dated later than AD 225, though some settlement in the area is implied. The remains confirm the picture seen elsewhere in Dringhouses of a roadside settlement dating primarily from the late 1st century to the early 3rd century.