Blue Bridge Lane
&
Fishergate House
Printed from the APC web site: navigation and non-essential images removed.
Please view on-line for full content (URL at end of document).
Following the dissolution of the monastery in November of 1538, excavations to the north found that the site fell into rapid decline, being swiftly robbed. The deposits identified across the Blue Bridge Lane site would seem to support the notion that the land remained unoccupied. The period between the mid-16th and the 20th century has been assigned to Period 9, but can be subdivided into four key sub-phases (Periods 9A to 9D). During Period 9A (mid-16th to late 18th century), both the cemetery and the Priory precinct appear to have been unoccupied; the consecrated burial ground appears to have been avoided as an area of domestic activity, while the Priory precinct was given over to orchards, arable land, pasture and meadows. Some property boundaries were maintained and consolidated, however, demonstrating continuity from earlier periods.
Sealing evidence for the later monastic industrial activity, a series of deposits of brown silty clays were found to have accumulated across the site, forming an homogenous pack which sealed many of the Period 8B features. This layer was found to have been deeper at the western end of the Blue Bridge Lane site; to the east, however, it had been truncated by later activity, and isolated deposits of similar material were recorded individually. In some areas, the earlier phases of accumulation were found to be fairly stony (C1169B), and frequently, distinct phases of accumulation could be identified. In Intervention 16, for example, three distinct contexts were identified within the pack of brown soils, the earliest of which sealed a Period 8 hearth (F380B). In contrast, in Intervention 17 and 18, comparable deposits were found to lie directly over subsoil. This material may have been imported to the site, or could be the result of the gradual accumulation of humus. Across the Blue Bridge Lane site, this homogenous brown pack was found to have developed a turf cover visible as turf lines throughout many areas of the site.
These deposits could not be precisely dated, and are likely to represent the accumulation or deposition of agricultural or horticultural soils over some considerable time. Their accumulation post-dates the latest activity within the monastic precinct, which appears to have ceased with the Dissolution in 1536. The homogenous brown soils encountered as blanket across all but the easternmost area of the site, would have accumulated through prolonged use for agricultural or horticultural practices, which is supported by the historical evidence.
Immediately after the Dissolution, the land was held by Richard Goldthorpe (Palliser 1971, 14-15) who, in 1545, granted the site of the late priory together with the orchard to John Broxholme and John Bellowe (Cal. Pat.Rolls 1547-8, 204). Subsequent wills describe the land as 'the leas of St Andrewes' (Skaife 1872, 223n), and by 1739, when reference is made to a 1713 deed, the land on which the priory stood comprised 'all that scite of the late dissolved Priory of Saint Andrew near the city of York, and all that parcell of arable, meadow or pasture ground sometimes called the Orchard, one close of arable, meadow or pasture ground called Mudd close, one close of arable, meadow or pasture ground called Saint Andrew's and one other parcell of arable, meadow or pasture called Shoulder of Mutton' (YCA Redfearn deeds). In later documents the parcel of land known as St Andrew's is also referred to as Stone Wall Close, within which the Blue Bridge Lane site is situated.
It would appear, therefore, that much of the land within this area, depicted on maps of the late 17th and early 18th century in three closes, was enclosed and employed variously as orchard, pasture, meadow and arable land, which would account for the accumulation of soils. The fact that the land was parcelled up, and the subject of several deeds and wills, indicates that the boundaries between these closes would have been consolidated and maintained, which provides a context for the construction of property boundaries across the site.
The southern boundary of the priory precinct persisted into Period 9, and has survived as the boundary of Blue Bridge Lane to the modern day. During Period 9A, this boundary was partly delimited by a limestone wall, recorded on 19th century maps to have been the remains of the medieval Priory wall. However, detailed study undertaken prior to, and during, demolition of a short surviving section of this wall suggested that the feature is post-medieval in origin. The limestone makeup of this wall represented development over a number of phases; the massive limestone construction that represented its initial construction was deemed to date to no later than c.1700 (see Historic Wall Assessment). The fabric was found to contain architectural elements of medieval date, which are likely to have derived from the Priory itself, probably after its dissolution (see The Building Materials). In the western part of the site, a date of the early to mid-17th century was further supported; the underlying final backfill of ditch F208B contained clay pipe of early 17th century date, and may have been deliberate preparation for construction of the wall.
F64B wall
The remains of a further limestone wall (F66B) was identified running perpendicular to the line of this boundary wall, some distance to the east, running for 7m on a north-south alignment. The wall had been constructed on the same alignment, and directly over an earlier, Period 8A ditch (F219B). This second wall was constructed from limestone blocks bonded with mortar. A stone mortar was identified within the fabric, which is likely to date to the 13th to 14th century; reuse of broken mortars as rubble building material is a common phenomenon. Adjacent to the western edge of this wall (F66B), a shallow ditch (F200B) was identified, measuring 1.50m wide, over 10m in length and up to 0.35m in depth. A copper alloy folded dagger chape was recovered from the backfill of this feature, along with fragments of post-medieval glass.
F66B wall and F200B flanking ditch
Evidence for a less substantial boundary was identified during the excavation of a test pit, which revealed the badly truncated base of a possible wall (F85B). The construction of this wall, from brick, tile and limestone, might represent the reuse of building materials from the dissolved priory. Although only a small part of this feature survived, this wall might have been a subdivision of property within this open land, although it appears to have fallen into disuse while the arable or orchard soils were still accumulating.
F85B section of wall exposed in Test Pit F82B
Little activity was identified on the site of the Fishergate House cemetery from the mid-16th century onwards, which concurs with the overall chronological assessment of the ceramic evidence. A small quantity of Period 9A ceramic material was recovered from the soils into which graves had been cut, as well as a single, halfpenny trade token, issued in York in the 17th century. Contemporary finds were recovered from within a number of the graves themselves, which produced fragments of mid-16th century pottery, small quantities of clay tobacco pipe (three fragments or less), and pottery of mid-17th century date. The small size of these fragments and the high levels of disturbance caused by the many large trees that currently occupy the site, suggest that this material is likely to intrusive, and cannot be used as reliable dating evidence. The layer which sealed the cemetery (C1439F) also produced a small quantity ceramic of early 17th century date; this deposit was subsequently sealed by turf (C1438F), further supporting a general lack of activity on the site.
From the late 18th century the area given over to orchards and arable land was reoccupied (Period 9B); the onset of the Ordnance Survey in the mid-19th century allows these developments to be charted with some accuracy. Prior to the mid-19th century, the southern part of Stone Wall Close was enclosed, and saw the construction of substantial villas, and the more grand Fishergate House; associated brick-built structures, outbuildings and service areas were encountered during excavation. Fishergate appears to have become a fashionable residential area, and the size of these buildings, their layout and ancillary structures, demonstrate that they would have been home to some of the more affluent members of society.
Location of Period 9B features
The majority of Period 9B features can be associated with Freshfield Cottage (Structure 5), a substantial villa which would have occupied much of the Blue Bridge Lane site. A series of three brick walls (F133B,F165B and F134B), represent the southern, eastern and western walls of the main part of Freshfield Cottage, associated with a possible east-west internal wall F138B.
Features both within and without the building provide clues to the spatial organisation of the house. The Ordnance Survey maps show the entrance located to the west, and therefore the service areas might be expected to the east of the site, which was confirmed by archaeological evidence. Almost central to area defined by the brick walls identified in Intervention 15, a square feature was identified (F139B), closely resembling a similar structure adjacent to the internal face of north-south wall F134B, a short distance to the east. F139B comprised a square, brick-built surface, less than 1.0m across, which showed signs of heavy sooting, and was open on one side. This feature has been interpreted as the base of a copper or boiler that would have been used for heating water within the building. The water was probably obtained from well (F140B), identified outside this area of the building, in the courtyard.
Structure 5, F139B and F134B
Within the courtyard Freshfield House, a circular, brick-built well was identified,immediately to the east of the building (F140B). The well was found to have a brick lining and measured approximately 1.0m in diameter. The presence of a nearby pump marked on the Ordnance Survey edition may suggest that the well had fallen out of use by 1852, or the well head had been altered to a more convenient means of drawing water.
F140B well
Also within the yard of the building, two brick-built, subterranean features were identified, which appear to fit neatly outside the known mid-19th century footprint of Freshfield Cottage. F104B appeared to be an open, brick-built chamber, of unknown depth, to the north of a similar feature (F103B), which was seen to contain a riveted iron tank, later secured in concrete. The function of this tank is uncertain, although it is possible that it represents water storage.
F103B, F104B
On the eastern edge of the Freshfield Cottage property, adjacent to the north-south boundary represented by F66B (Period 9A), a rectangular building is known to have been constructed, depicted on Ordnance Survey editions of 1852 and 1892. This structure respects the earlier boundary of F66B, demonstrating its continuity into Period 9B; the structures have been identified as the stables that were mentioned on the deeds of 1851, and would have delimited the eastern edge of the courtyard.
Just to the west of this block, a sub-circular pit was found to contain the partly articulated remains of a horse; bones below the distal tibia and radius had been removed, suggesting that the animal was skinned prior to interment. Notably, the York Directories of the late 19th century record that a veterinary surgeon occupied Freshfield House; this may have been one of his less fortunate patients.
Period 9B horse burial (Interactive SVG image)
The 1854 deed describing the features of the Freshfield Cottage property also mention an icehouse, which is well attested both archaeologically and cartographically. The remains of this structure were identified within the garden area to the north of the house, where late garden soils were found to have accumulated, directly over the Period 9A orchard soils. The main chamber of the icehouse was visible in plan as a circular, brick-built structure, approximately 4.0m in diameter. The removal of abutting deposits revealed a clear construction cut, demonstrating that the mortared brick walls sat within a circular cut, which had been packed with a thick lining of yellowish-brown clay approximately 0.40m wide. The clay lining, which contained ceramic of mid-18th century date, appears to have petered out towards the east, where deposits were truncated by later disturbance.
Icehouses of this type are typical of late 18th and 19th century construction, and it has been estimated that in Britain, some three thousand such structures were built, primarily between 1750 and 1875 (Beamon and Roaf 1990; Buxbaum 1992). The property on Blue Bridge Lane was initially enclosed after 1794, and the structure is marked on the 1852 Ordnance Survey edition, suggesting that this icehouse also falls within these parameters. Icehouses are known primarily to have occurred in the gardens of country estates (Gaunt 1971, 44-47), but are also known in urban locations; grocers, confectioners, coffee houses and fisheries in particular would have employed them from an early date (Buxbaum 1992, 27).
It was important that the ground on which icehouses were built was free from damp and trees (Buxbaum 1992, 7; Gaunt 1971, 46), which potentially provides a context for the unbonded limestone drain (F267B) that was identified immediately to the north. The most popular locations are recorded to have been sloping banks of streams or ponds, which would also accord well with positioning on the sloping ground of Blue Bridge Lane. Most icehouses comprised four key elements; an entrance, a passage, a chamber and a vault (Buxbaum 1992, 7); the passage would generally have accessed the top half of the chamber. The Ordnance Survey maps show that the entrance lay to the east of the icehouse, which appears to have been mounded over, and may have been reminiscent of icehouses that occur in plans of the 1830s for London. In profile, many icehouses appear to have been either vertical or conical shafts; where visible, F96B appears to have near-vertical sides.
Potentially, Period 9A wall F66B, with its flanking ditch F200B, demarcated the limits of a parcel of land that was later host to Fishergate Villa, property of John Waite. This villa appears to have been constructed to the west of the property boundary by 1852, in the northeastern corner of the square parcel of land (OS 1852). Few features were identified which can be associated with this building, as much of the area was truncated by later buildings. A number of small postholes and scoops within the surrounding grounds can tentatively be assigned to this period, and may represent garden features. The backfills these features were found to contain quantities of CBM, a bronze coin weight of mid-18th century date and ceramic of mid-17th century date.
Fishergate House is known to have been constructed in 1837 to the design of Atkinson and Atkinson (RCHM, 1975, liv) and would have badly truncated the remains of the medieval cemetery. The excavations on the site did not directly contact structural remains relating to the house, although a brick-built culvert (F200F) running roughly east-west along the northern boundary of the site may have been part of an early phase of construction. A second drain was recorded in the north-facing section of Intervention 2 (F235F), constructed from bricks, with a visible ceramic sole plate. This runs perpendicular to F200F, and may have drained into it.
Just outside the area of investigation, a circular, brick-built feature was visible, measuring less than 1.0m in diameter (F335F). The function of this feature was not established, although it may represent some form of well, or a chute or vent connected with the cellars of Fishergate House.
F335F possible pump base
The developments seen in Period 9B intensified in subsequent years, with wholesale re-development of the Fishergate frontage, and the increasing use of this area for leisure and residential purposes. Freshfield Cottage survived, but Fishergate Villa was replaced by terraced housing (Structures 6, 7 and 8). The footprint, flooring and cellars of these buildings were still in evidence during the evaluation work, and appeared to have been little altered following their construction between 1852 and 1891.
Location of 9C features
At the eastern edge of Intervention 15, a series of brick walls was identified, which can be associated directly with three terraced houses depicted on the Ordnance Survey edition of 1892, orientated west-east and fronting onto Fishergate. The wall dividing the southernmost of these properties (Structure 6) from its northern neighbour (labelled in 1892 as a Post Office) survived for much of its original extent, and was allocated F45B. A north-south wall running from the southern edge of Intervention 15 (F53B) represents an internal wall within this building. Within Structure 6, a drain (F47B) was identified running parallel to, and to the south of the dividing wall. As these features were cut into subsoil, the relationship between the drain and the wall could not be fully ascertained, but it is possible that they represented internal services associated with the initial construction, or later modification, of these buildings.
Structures 6 and 7
To the north of F45B, the rear external walls of Structure 7 (the Post Office), with rectilinear internal divisions, were clear in plan. The brick frontage of this building was identified during earlier investigations and a quarry tile floor was also identified, representing the associated internal surface. Beneath this floor, a foundation trench (F10B) and a salt-glazed pipe (F9B) had previously been identified, potentially the services associated with the original construction of the house; the cellars observed against the Fishergate frontage would also have been associated with these buildings. The wall dividing Structure 7 from the property to the north (Structure 8), and part of a NW-SE aligned passageway leading into the yard to the rear of the larger of the three properties, also survived in plan.
Intervention 5, F18B, F24B and F25B
Cartographic evidence shows that, although some further development occurred in other areas of Intervention 15, these houses retained the same layout into the 1930s and probably to the 1990s when they were demolished; these houses are visible on photographs of the 1920s, when people frequented the Rialto cinema (formerly the City Picture House and the Casino), which lies to the north.
The development of the Fishergate frontage signals a change in the character of this area from one dominated by elite residences, to a more densely occupied area where tradesmen and merchants would have dwelt. The York Directories record drapers, fish merchants, butchers, fruiterers dwelling in the houses on Fishergate at this time. The Rialto cinema, and also establishments such as Fishergate School, opposite the site, would have served this growing community.
The Fishergate frontage appears to have changed little throughout the early part of the 20th century; the cinema continued (although rebuilt on a number of occasions and eventually changing to a bingo hall), and the terraced houses appear to have remained unaltered until their demolition in the late 20th century. Blue Bridge Lane itself, however, appears to have changed more dramatically. Although incorporated into structures of the 1930s, Freshfield Cottage appears to have been demolished by the 1960s, when a large, concrete built structure dominated almost the entire site. During construction, much of the area appears to have been levelled, truncating some deposits, and backfilling visible features with rubble and debris derived from the glassworks site to the north. This building is known to have been occupied by Shepherd Homes, who occupied the site prior to demolition of these structures.
Interventions 20, 22 and 24 were situated adjacent to the upstanding remains of the Rialto picture house, and encountered evidence relating to the construction of this building. An east-west aligned wall in Intervention 10 may have been the northern boundary wall dividing the Rialto property from that to the north (F30B). Foundation trenches, backfilled with brick and concrete, were identified in Intervention 20, 21 and 24. These features presumably relate to the construction, or rebuilding, of this structure during the first half of the 20th century; although built by 1909/10, the cinema is known to have burnt down on a number of occasions. The layer of charcoal and wood within brick levelling deposits in Intervention 9 and Intervention 10 can tentatively be linked to such episodes of damage and rebuilding.
During the later part of the 20th century (post-1962), the rear of this building was developed, with the construction of a car park and nightclub above. The more modern structure was raised on steel pillars on concrete and breeze block bases. Modern levelling layers and hardcore, and tarmac or concrete surfaces were encountered in the Interventions within this area; these layers included slag and waste material deriving from the glassworks site immediately to the north.
Dense layers of brick and mortar in areas along Blue Bridge represent the demolition of brick-built structures; this material may have derived from the destruction of Freshfield Cottage. In Intervention 10 in particular, a layer of rubble was found to contain brick and tile of 17th to 19th century date which is likely to derive from such demolition.
Subsequently, the land was occupied by a much larger structure. Labelled as 'works' on the Ordnance Survey maps of 1962, this building extended from the rear of properties on the Fishergate frontage, to the river path to the east. Regularly dispersed across the Blue Bridge Lane, a number of concrete stanchion bases were identified, which presumably relate to this building, and the concrete surface that existed on the site prior to excavation would have formed the internal surface of this building complex. Modern brick and breeze block walling, on concrete foundations was identified across the frontage of the site, following the boundaries of earlier walls F66B and F64B, and apparently representing the incorporation of earlier remains into the 1960s buildings. Below-ground services were identified beneath these works, and with the picture house, which from 1962 was utilised as a bingo hall; including sewers, manholes, gas and water pipes and drains all crossed the site, truncating many of the earlier deposits.
Fishergate House remained largely unaltered, apart from the demolition of the stable block by 1892, until recent redevelopment, despite documented changes in the use of the house as offices for the Ordnance Survey, for the Army Audit Office and later as a Girls School. During the War, a small complex of prefabricated offices was constructed in the grounds of the house, and was still upstanding at the start of the project. A photographic survey was undertaken prior to their demolition (Intervention 3). The structures comprised three wings, arranged in an irregular U-shape and were found to have been constructed from concrete pillars, with timber trusses and supports, and a corrugated asbestos cement roof. The building had been subdivided into small rooms, with one larger, possible briefing room, which was found to contain an original hatch, and wall panels, presumably for the display of information. The buildings had integrated toilets from the outset; narrow windows and urinals appear to represent original features. Also original were some light fittings and four-panelled doors; the structure had, however, been more recently modified with further sub-partitioning; the structures represent typical World War II constructions.
External and internal views of pre-fabricated huts
The retaining wall of the Fishergate House site appears to have been replaced at some point during the 20th century; the surviving length along the northern edge of Intervention 1 was found to have concrete foundations, and a clear construction cut was identified (F6F). Evidence also indicates the modernisation of services for the house; a number of brick-built manholes were identified across the site, and all interventions were disturbed by drains, water pipes, sewage pipes and the insertion of electricity cables.
Parts of the Fishergate House site had been surfaced for modern vehicles; brick and rubble hardcore sealed the earlier turf, and infilled scoops and hollows across the site. These rubble and clayey silt layers preceded the laying down of gravel preparation and tarmac in the late 20th century.
apc > monographs > blue bridge lane & fishergate house > excavation: post-dissolution