York Historic Environment Record

Excavations at the Union Terrace car park on Clarence Street which took place in 1972, revealed a series of institutions had been present on the site from the 13th century onwards, with the remains of buildings associated with the 13th century Carmelite Friary and the 14th – mid 16th century Hospital of St. Mary being identified. St. Mary’s Hospital was dissolved and the site was taken over by St Peter’s School in 1557; the final phase of early post medieval buildings at the site relate to this period. Documentary sources record that the school – which had originally been founded in the 7th century - was given a Royal Charter in the 1550s; it remained at the site until it is believed to have been destroyed in 1644 during the English Civil War in the Siege of York, following which it was demolished. There was no archaeological evidence of buildings at the site from the later 17th century until the early 19th century, when housing was built. Over 1000 artefacts were recovered during the excavations, some of which could relate to the school; unfortunately many were found residually in later deposits. These objects include slate pencils, marbles, coins, and dress accessories, as well as a Jew’s Harp, and an almost complete pottery vessel known as a pipkin.