York Historic Environment Record

Most of the archaeological material encountered has been from the post-medieval period and later, generally associated with the formal gardens of Clifford House or the construction of the Methodist Chapel and Fire Station. Additional information to the evaluation included a small number of surviving post-medieval walls which were likely related to structures when the site was formal gardens. These only survived on the periphery of the site and were not affected by later clearance events. The augering provided estimates regarding the deep deposits and also encountered a large obstruction interpreted as a Friary wall, but depths could not be recorded. A significant possible medieval ground surface (2.30mBGL) was recorded during the removal of the water tank and corresponded with a deposit encountered during the borehole survey and is one of the earliest known deposits on site. However, no finds were recovered to inform a date. The predominant deposits encountered across site were rubble deposits related to demolition and construction in the late post-medieval period associated with the land clearance and building of the Methodist church and the Magistrates court.