York Historic Environment Record

Between the 12th January and the 1st March 2022 York Archaeology conducted an archaeological watching brief on Queen Street, York. The work was undertaken with Openreach for City of York Council (CYC). The works involved the monitoring and recording of two 3m by 2m trenches. Both trenches were required to be 3m in depth. The two trenches were positioned approximately 200m apart, Trench 1 was south-west of the medieval city wall close to the junction of Queen Street, Micklegate, Nunnery Lane and Blossom Street, while Trench 2 was located north–west of the medieval defences opposite York Railway Station. The archaeological sequences encountered in each trench was very different. The two trenches revealed vastly different archaeology. Within Trench 1 (Windmill PH Queen St) a full excavation was required. The trench contained a series of rubbish pits dating to the 2nd and 3rd century containing a large quantity of finds, both locally produced and imports from elsewhere in the Roman Empire. Trench 1 revealed deposits containing artefacts indicative of high status activity on or near the site during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, and which may have continued into the 4th century. The earliest features investigated were 2nd century pits, later sealed below dumps that may have been linked with the disposal of material generated as a result of development in the colonia during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The dumping also served to raise ground level to a point where ground conditions were drier. Following the elevation of ground level pit digging and rubbish disposal returned to the site, hinting at occupation close-by in the mid-3rd to 4th century. In the late 3rd to 4th century a fairly crude surface was laid down, this largely comprised of cobbles but also incorporated other hard wearing material such as brick, roofing tile and fragments of amphora. A significant change to the character of activity at the site then occurred in the 4th century, with what appears to be an accumulation of agricultural soil. Pit digging for refuse disposal resumed in the 11th/13th century, hinting at a return to activity of a more urban character at the site. Trench 2 was situated on the south-eastern periphery of the Railway Station cemetery. Some evidence for Roman period funerary activity was found, including disarticulated human bone and Roman pottery. However, the remains appear disturbed or redeposited during construction of the railway station in the 19th century.