York Historic Environment Record

Three trial trenches (Trenches 8, 9 and 10) targeted three corners of the 1841 Engine Shed. Trench 8 was sited to target the north-western corner, Trench 9 was sited to target the north-eastern corner and Trench 10 was sited to target the south-eastern corner. The broad aim of the work was to determine the full extant footprint of the 1841 Engine Shed and to determine the degree of preservation of sub-surface structural elements. The Phase 2 evaluation established sub-surface structural remains of the 1841 Engine Shed survive to an exceptional degree. The external brick wall of the building and associated surfaces and drainage structures were recorded in all three trenches. Elements of inspection pits and track that would have formed part of the northernmost road running through the shed were recorded in Trenches 8 and 9. In Trenches 9 and 10, on the eastern corners of the building, the minimum depth at which structural remains were encountered was 0.41m (at a maximum height of 12.77m OD) and in general they lay within 0.52m of the existing ground surface. In Trench 8, on the north-western corner, structural remains were encountered at a depth of just 50mm below existing ground level at the eastern extent of the trench (at a maximum height of 12.77m OD) and a depth of 0.41m at the western extent of the trench. The work therefore established that the 1841 Engine Shed measured c.46.80m (153ft 6in) WNW-ESE by c. 16.40m (53ft 10in) NNE-SSW, identical to the dimensions depicted on the 1892 Ordnance Survey map and at precisely the same location. In all of the trenches investigated in the Phase 2 evaluation, structural remains of the 1841 Engine Shed were overlain by 20th-century levelling deposits. The uppermost strata in all trenches comprised either hardcore or dolomite forming the existing ground surface.