York Historic Environment Record

An archaeological evaluation was carried out by On-Site Archaeology on land to the east of Tadcaster Road, York. The evaluation comprised the excavation of a total of seven trial trenches. Six of the trenches were located within the footprint of a proposed new building to comprise 30 no. apartments, community hub and offices. The seventh trench was located in the northern part of the site, within an area of medieval ridge and furrow earthworks, which are to be preserved beneath a sensory garden. This trench targeted a linear feature identified through geophysical survey. The six evaluation trenches excavated within the footprint of the proposed new building did not reveal any archaeological features. The trench located within the area of ridge and furrow earthworks revealed the presence of a ditch, corresponding with the linear feature recorded by the geophysics. The fill of the ditch contained a small assemblage of Romano-British pottery and animal bone, suggestive of the disposal of domestic refuse. This may imply some form of settlement in the vicinity, probably to the west of the site, along the fringes of the known Roman road. The ditch was probably backfilled in the late 3rd or early 4th century AD. The only archaeological feature identified during the evaluation was the single ditch. The area of ridge and furrow earthworks is to be preserved in-situ beneath a sensory garden, with only very limited development impact being proposed. An archaeological watching brief will be carried out during these limited development works. The Romano-British ditch is unlikely to be impacted upon by the development proposal. Within the footprint of the proposed new building no archaeological features were recorded. Further archaeological investigation of this area of the site is unlikely to reveal significant archaeological results.