York Historic Environment Record

Between the 10th and the 21st December 2018, York Archaeological Trust (YAT) led a community excavation at Fishergate Postern Tower, Piccadilly. The work was undertaken for City of York Council (CYC) who are working with the Friends of York Walls (FOYW) and Northern Powergrid (NPG) to install an electricity supply into the tower. The work was based on a Written Scheme of Investigation produced by YAT and involved the excavation and recording of a trench measuring 8.50m in length and 0.50m to 1.50m in width. The trench was excavated to a depth of 0.60m BGL. Outside of the tower, a series of surfaces, make-up deposits and cut features dating to the 19th century were excavated. Two small sections of stone footings relating to the tower were also exposed. Within the tower, evidence of previous brick floors and the footings of an 18th/19th century timber staircase were found to overlie a series of make-up layers and cut features. In addition, the footings of the original internal south tower wall and a layer of dumping that predates the construction of the tower were also investigated.