York Historic Environment Record

In 1970 demolition took places to remove the final part of a riverside warehouse on Skeldergate, which had occupied that site since 1719. Described by Drake (1736) as ‘noble vaults built in [Skeldergate] by the late Mr Pawson wine merchant; whose father and grandfather were of the same business’. The property past out of the Pawson family in 1760, changing hands several more times until one vault was demolished to be replaced by flour mills in the first half of 19th Century, the next two vaults came down in 1920 and as mentioned the final one in 1970. A proposed major development in the area led to an archaeological investigation being carried out in 1972 with pottery found at the site showing that there had been some industrial activity in this area. In 1982 this pottery was studied and revealed the history of the location pre-Pawsons.