Site Name |
Heworth Croft, Heworth, York | Project Team |
Stephen Timms BA | ||
County |
North Yorkshire | Richard Jackson BA | |||
Site Code |
YHC03 | Lars Gustavsen BA MA | |||
NGR |
SE 6102 5261 | Toby Simpson BA | |||
Report Date |
May 2003, revised February 2004 | Malin Holst BA MSc | |||
On Behalf Of |
Mike Griffiths & Associates | Stephen Rowland BSc MSc | |||
| 1 St George's Place | Peter Glew BA | ||||
| York | Report Prepared By |
Lars Gustavsen BA MA | |||
| YO24 1GN | Report Reviewed By |
Cecily Spall BSc MA | |||
Client |
Bellway Homes | Report Authorised By |
Justin Garner-Lahire BA | ||
| Yorkshire | |||||
| 2 Deighton Close | |||||
| Wetherby | |||||
| West Yorkshire | |||||
| LS22 7GZ |
A scheme of archaeological evaluation was carried out at York St John College, Heworth Croft, York in advance of a planning application for residential development. The evaluation was undertaken by Field Archaeology Specialists Ltd (FAS) in association with Mike Griffiths and Associates on behalf of Bellway Homes. Nine evaluation trenches were excavated and fourteen geotechnical test pits were monitored between the 10th March and 10th April 2003. A historic buildings assessment of Heworth Croft was also undertaken by the Historic Buildings Section of FAS (FAS 2001).
The aim of the evaluation was to test for the presence of one of the main Roman roads leading into the city. A further aim was to test the hypothesis that burials associated with the Roman and early medieval cemeteries documented to the north-east of the site extended into the site.
The evaluation revealed four distinct phases of activity from the Roman to the modern period. Roman activity was represented by a wide ditch running roughly parallel with Heworth Green as well as fragments of cremated human bone and abraded sherds of Roman pottery suggesting the existence of a ploughed out cremation cemetery in the vicinity. Medieval activity was contacted in the form of several shallow furrows crossing the site as well as a possible boundary ditch. Sealing this were a number of post medieval agricultural or horticultural layers as well as several modern deposits associated with the construction of a 19th century villa on the site.
Field Archaeology Specialists Ltd are grateful for the assistance and cooperation of Richard Hirst and Rob Scott of York St John College and the staff of ENCIA Ltd.