Earlier this year I signed up for another training dig with York Archaeology. This dig was once again in the Walmgate area, based on what had been dubbed 'School Green' owing to it covering part of the remains of the Hope Street School which operated in York between 1827 and 1890. Historic maps also showed that the demolished church of St Peter-le-Willows may have occupied part of the site. The area had been dug the previous year, and the decision had been taken to reopen the trench this year and continue to explore the medieval and possible Roman layers underneath.
DAY 1 – The Disappearing/Reappearing Feature
It was the fourth week of
digging on this site for York Archaeology, and with the long period of bright
sunshine and high temperatures it sounded like the previous three weeks had
been heavy going. They had however had a number of really
interesting finds, including a medieval hearth. Over the preceding
weekend here had been two days of near constantly heavy rain, which had let up
by the time we arrived on the site to start the week.
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| This medieval tile hearth had been uncovered in the preceding weeks |
The weather was unusually kind and the conditions were digging were particularly good. The site had already yielded a number of interesting small finds and today was no different. Working to bring the site down to the same level there was one area which raised a number of questions due to an apparent change in the soil – however the light conditions made if difficult to see, with it seeming to appear and disappear as the cloud cover changed. My own sector produced already some sections of medieval tile, and some of the distinctive green glazed pottery from the mid-Medieval period often associated with York. The other side of the trench also began producing Roman era finds including some fragments of the distinctive Samian pottery with its characteristic smoothness. Even though pottery isn’t particularly my area of interest I always find the colour variation and the decorations applied to glazeware to be fascinating.
The feature of the title
was a change in the soil in the middle of the trench - near the hearth shown
above - which appeared, due to the regular changes in the angle of the light
and cloud cover - to appear and then disappear. It was subsequently revealed
to be a later period pit that had cut through the layers beneath then been
backfilled at a later date - the contents however differed little from those of
the rest of the trench - animal bone and pottery - and gave no clues as to its
purpose.
DAY 2 – Unexpected
Weather
Unfortunately a sudden
flare up of my fibromyalgia overnight kept me off site for much of the
morning. On my return it seemed the disappearing feature had been located
– it appeared to be a pit which had been dug and backfilled at a later date
than the area around the medieval hearth that had been uncovered in
previous weeks. The exact reason for the pit was uncertain. I was
tasked with extending work bringing down one side of the trench – hunting for a
layer of distinctive orange clay. It was notable, compared to the other
site in the area, how much sand there was in the upper layers of the soil –
more silt than clay. The orange layer appeared to undulate across the
trench, making finding an exact level somewhat tricky. In terms of finds
we continued to find large amounts of animal bone, along with more green glazed
pottery, and yet more tile. The afternoon was subject to a sudden change
of plan by an unexpected downpour – which occurred right as various weather
apps had been predicting an improvement in the weather which had been overcast
all day.
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| Sheltering from a sudden downpour |
After a dash to the
gazebo, we watched as the pits began to fill with water, and the one dry sandy
loose began to turn into a light brown sludge. The decision was taken to
move back to our covered area and under a nearby tree to begin processing
finds. Metal finds were separated for dry brushing, while pottery
and bone were cleaned in the usual way.
DAY 3 – Dog’s Tooth
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| The weather continued to be less than predictable |
The weather forecast for
Day 3 was looking positive, but with the sudden downpour the day before any
prediction seemed somewhat questionable. The weather had however led to a
continuation of the favourable digging conditions we had had on Day 1.
The first task was to clear the build-up of silty sludge from the pits and
deeper parts of the trenches, where it had accumulated after yesterday’s
rain. The mud – particular with the inclusions of clay – made sifting the
spoil impractical – as the first grids rapidly became clogged. This lead
to breaking up and screening the first few buckets of spoil by hand to ensure
we captured any small finds which might have slipped through. Once the
silt was removed we continued cleaning back to the orange clay beneath.
Early in the morning session, my section gave up an extremely well preserved
canine tooth.
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| Canine tooth (possibly in both senses?) |
In my experience finding a canine tooth – especially from a dog – has always seemed to
mark the beginning of a good day for small finds – as it proved to be
today. The eastern end of the trench continued to give up early medieval
and late Roman finds – including a small piece of Samian ware with its
distinctive smooth finish. The western end – including the section I had
been assigned – continued to give up mid-medieval pottery fragments, both green
glaze-ware as the day before, but also some dark blue, almost purple with
incised decorations. The western end – including the section I had
been assigned – continued to give up mid-medieval pottery fragments, both green
glaze-ware as the day before, but also some dark blue, almost purple with
incised decorations. It also gave up a large amount of animal bone and
teeth – including some very well preserved cow and sheep teeth. There
were also some fragments of antler found in the eastern end of the trench with
signs of having been worked. The middle section of the trench – at the
southern end – also gave up the earliest find so far - a fragment of flint with
a worked edge – either a flake from tool making or part of a tool itself – it
would take further analysis to establish which is most likely. While such
early finds aren’t unheard of in York, this would be one of the earliest from
this part of town which is largely believed to have been inhabited in the Roman
period at the earliest – with most of the land plots still following the lines
established during the Anglian and Viking era.
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| Another beautiful example of green glaze - possibly from the base of a vessel judging by the shape at the left hand edge. |
The area also gave up
some large fragments of vibrantly coloured green glaze-ware - two of which
(including the one pictured above) fitted together almost
perfectly.
DAY 4 – Cow Vertebrae and Delicate Glazes
Digging conditions today were good thanks to some overnight rain which had left the ground damp enough to clean back relatively easily, without everything turning to mud. The eastern end of the trench continued to produce a mix of late Roman and early medieval small finds.. My own section on the western end produced another canine tooth early on in the morning, and it once again proved to be a sign it would be a good day for small finds.
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| Two more examples of green glaze - showing the variation in colour and pattern |
From my perspective as
someone interested in bones possibly the most interesting find were a number of
fragments of cattle vertebrae, some of which appeared to have cut marks on - in
two cases two fragments fitted perfectly together, produce a complete vertebrae
which appeared to be of similar size. We could speculate that they may
have come from the same animal, but it would take further analysis to do more
than vaguely speculate. Later in the afternoon we also uncovered another
complete vertebra - against likely bovine, and again likely from an adult
specimen, All of the teeth found appeared to be from mature individuals
in terms of both the cattle and sheep teeth - which would fit with what we know
of butchery practices at the time. If these were from the earlier Roman
period this would suggest that the area was being used for keeping animals even
before the medieval period when the area was associated with the cattle
market.
DAY 5 – Sheep, Goat, and ‘Bird, generic’
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| An incisor from an adult sheep complete with root. |
The final day of the dig
was by far the most sunny, although the temperature remained around 20C.
The sunlight and the lack of overnight rain made for much drier digging
conditions. The western end of the trench began revealing a possible feature
in the northern corner. As it was uncertain exactly what was going on at
this end, this was left in favour of connecting the two larger south and
southwestern levels down to the orange clay layer exposed by their earlier test
pit. Connecting the two broad strips already taken down to the clay was
more difficult going, but continued to give up a variety of pieces of pottery -
included glaze ware including both green and dark red fragments - including
some examples with small incised designs including some patterns of wavy lines,
along with more fragments of animal bone. It was noticeable that a higher
proportion of the bones from this section appears to be primarily from sheep
and birds. The sheep teeth again appeared to be from mature specimens, in
keeping with what we know of the butchery practices of the time. A quick
calculation of the minimum number of species suggests that if all the avian
bones were the same species we had at least five species - though the variation
in the avian bones suggests that there were at least two species present -
raising the minimum number to seven.
Eleanor and my efforts at connecting to the two strips led to a discussion
about the logistics of the Channel Tunnel - and a moment of what might be
called generational culture shock at the reminder that the breakthrough of the
Channel Tunnel had taken place in December 1990, over thirty five years
ago. Interesting the earliest proposals for a tunnel date from
1802. The day also included a discussion of the logistics of carrying
three takeaway bubble teas while cycling - which led Amy to coin the phrase
'Bubble tea papoose' - possibly the quote of the week.
Wrap Up
The excavations in this part of Walmgate have provided a lot of interesting
evidence as to the occupation of this part of the city in the Medieval period,
as well as suggesting that this area was also inhabited during the Late Roman
era - something which had been suggested before, but of which there is only
partial evidence. While the excavations did not find the remains of the
lost medieval church of Saint Peter-le-Willows - they do give us some more
information about the layout of this part of the city - which might one day in
future help us to determine where this particular building stood. The
various artefacts each shed some more light on the day to day life of the
Walmgate area during the past, from the decorated glazeware vessels to the animal
bones, to the small fragments of antler which were found amongst them.
Each adds to the picture we have of human habitation in this part of the city
and helps us gain insight into just how the area has evolved and changed over
time, from the animal pens and hand decorated pottery vessels, to the
foundations of the Hope Street school that taught students how to operate the
telegraph, to the modern day, and with the former care home site now scheduled
for demolition and redevelopment, the next stages in the story of the area.