Heworth Croft, Diary
15/07/04
The archaeological excavations at Heworth Croft are almost complete. The excavation of three trenches in advance of development has produced very little in the way of archaeological features and finds.
Only
two medieval furrows and an undated shallow pit were recorded in Intervention
12. The excavation of Intervention 13 (image to right), whilst still ongoing,
has produced a number of modern features and services but little else in the
way of in situ archaeological deposits or features. A 20m long, 2m wide extension
was added to the trench running southward toward Heworth Green. (see photo)
The purpose of this extension was to intersect any linear features or even
roads which may have survived within the development area. Work to date has
shown that no such features are present within the trench.
Previously
evaluation work in the northeastern part of the site recorded a series of
medieval furrows. As well as finding more of these features, the ongoing excavation
of Intervention 14 has also revealed three large pits containing small but
significant assemblages of Roman pottery (image to left). These pits vary
in diameter between 1.0m and 1.5m and are between 0.5m and 0.65m deep. In
addition to the pottery, a small amount of cremated bone and a cow tooth have
also been found in the backfill of the pits.
The purpose of these features is not clear. It is hoped that by analysing samples taken from their backfills we will be able to have a better idea of why they were dug and what was in them.
This phase of excavation will finish on Friday the 16th of July.
24/06/04
Archaeological
work has recommenced on the Heworth Croft site. The former St John College
campus, which has been vacant since the summer of 2003 will shortly be the
location for a substantial residential development. The site lies within a
conservation area and is home to a Grade 2 listed building in addition to
a number of protected trees. Consequently the redevelopment of the site will
be restricted to the construction of new buildings in the locations of the
old campus blocks. A programme of archaeological excavation and monitoring
has been agreed with the City of York Council and will be implemented as a
planning condition for the new development.
Previous evaluation of Heworth Croft was carried out by Field Archaeology Specialists in March 2003 and showed that the site had been badly truncated by medieval agriculture and later landscaping associated firstly with the gardens of a Victorian villa and secondly with the construction of the campus itself. With the exception of a series of medieval furrows, the only archaeological feature recorded during the evaluation comprised a single Roman ditch which ran parallel to Heworth Green. Pottery recovered from this feature dated to the late first to early second century. A small quantity of cremated human bone was recovered from a number of deposits across the site. The presence of this material would suggest that Heworth Croft may have once been the site of a Roman cemetery probably associated with a Roman road which is projected to run along the present line of Heworth Green. The severe disturbance caused by later agriculture and landscaping, however, has left only traces of the burials mixed up in later soils.
With
the possibility that intact burial remains may be present on the site, archaeological
excavation will take place in advance of construction in areas where new buildings
lie outside the footprint of the old campus blocks. Across the rest of the
area any groundworks will be monitored under an archaeological watching brief.
Archaeological trenches (Intervention 12-14) have been located in three areas
of new construction. To date Intervention 12 and Intervention 14 have been
opened. Preliminary results show that two medieval furrows are present in
Intervention 12 and a further two are present in Intervention 14 (the image
to the left shows one of these being excavated). Although no evidence for
in situ burials have been found, several fragments of abraded Roman pottery
have been recovered from the furrow fills suggesting an earlier presence in
the areas.