Blue Bridge Lane
&
Fishergate House
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Two open area archaeological excavations, targeted localised excavation, a borehole survey and several schemes of watching brief were undertaken by Field Archaeology Specialists Ltd in the grounds of Fishergate House and at Blue Bridge Lane (NGR SE 6060 5100). Fieldwork was carried out intermittently between July 2000 and August 2004, with the main excavation seasons taking place in the autumn of 2000 and in the autumn and winter of 2001. The investigations were carried out on behalf of Mike Griffiths and Associates, for Shepherd Homes Ltd and Rank Leisure.
The two main fieldwork phases of mitigation excavation and provisional post-excavation for Fishergate House (Intervention 1,2 and 4) and Blue Bridge Lane (Intervention 15 to 22), were organised and supervised by Annette Roe and Stephen Timms respectively; final post-excavation and reporting for the project was undertaken by Cecily Spall. The project was managed by Justin Garner-Lahire, while the evaluation and mitigation programmes were designed and monitored by Mike Griffiths of Mike Griffiths and Associates.
Fieldwork was undertaken in accordance with two separate archaeological mitigation strategies prepared by Mike Griffiths and Associates in response to respective residential and commercial developments. It was agreed with John Oxley, Principal Archaeologist, City of York Council that the two sites be published simultaneously; consequently, this report has merged the results of post-excavation assessment and represents the Level 3 Field Report for Fishergate House and Blue Bridge Lane. For the purposes of this final synthesis, the results of preceding archaeological evaluation programmes at both sites as well as at nearby Marlborough Grove have also been subsumed into the field account where appropriate and where the evidence permitted.
The site is located on the eastern bank of the confluent Rivers Ouse and tributary Foss, to the west of modern Fishergate (NGR SE 6060 5100) (Figure 1). The area of investigation consists of two sites: to the south, that of Fishergate House and its grounds; to the north, the site of the former Mecca Bingo Hall, multi-storey car park and night club, and the former head office of Shepherd Homes Ltd; the two areas are bisected by Blue Bridge Lane. The area of investigation is bound to the east by Fishergate, to the west by the River Ouse, to the north by the Novotel Hotel and car park and to the south by Marlborough Grove.
Figure 1. Location of area of investigation (Interactive SVG image)
When fieldwork commenced, the site to the immediate north of Blue Bridge Lane consisted of waste-ground with concrete raft foundations and disused cellars against the Fishergate frontage. The northernmost part of the Blue Bridge Lane site was occupied by the former Mecca Bingo Hall, the reused 1930s Rialto cinema building, behind which a multi-storey car park and disused night club were situated. During development, these structures were demolished progressively from east to west.
To the immediate south of Blue Bridge Lane, Fishergate House and its grounds represented a large Victorian great house and an enclosed parcel of land used for car parking, with an asphalt surface and small areas of grass and trees. A bicycle shed and two pre-fabricated buildings were located on the northern and eastern periphery of the site and were demolished prior to and during excavation. The pre-fabricated buildings, which relate to the use of Fishergate House by the army during World War II, were the subject of a full photographic record prior to their demolition.
Both sites had been the subject of recent archaeological evaluation programmes undertaken by the York Archaeological Trust (YAT) (YAT 1994) and FAS (FAS 2001). Based on the results of the evaluation programmes, the aim of the mitigation strategies was to preserve by record archaeological remains threatened by the proposed developments, where preservation in situwas not possible. The City of York Council archaeological planning policy allows for a maximum of 5% of archaeological remains to be affected by a proposed development. For the Blue Bridge Lane site, however, the needs of the development coincided with the opportunity for high-priority archaeological research, and subsequently, an open area excavation was agreed.
The general area surrounding Blue Bridge Lane, including St George's Field between the Foss and the Ouse to the west, and the area to the east of Fishergate, is known from historical and archaeological evidence to have been in use from the prehistoric period to the present day. Large open-area excavations were undertaken during 1985 and 1986 by YAT at 46-54 Fishergate, and the results form the most substantial information on the archaeology and history of Fishergate (Kemp 1996; Kemp and Graves 1996; Mainman 1992; Rogers 1993, O'Connor 1992).
Fishergate is situated on the glacial moraine, which extends east-west across the Vale of York and which broadens south of the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss. The moraine is a significant chorographic feature and may have been exploited from as early as the Mesolithic as a route across the Vale. Later stray finds from York dated to the Neolithic to Bronze and Iron Age, where provenanced, tend to be located close to the morainic ridge. A Bronze Age palstave is recorded from Fulford and as well as other bronze objects from the Fulford-Heslington area (Radley 1974, 12). It has been argued that dykes known as Green Dykes Lane, recorded as being used in the medieval period, may actually have been Iron Age cross-ridge dykes or droveways utilising the ridge (ibid, 13). In the immediate area of Fishergate, 'a large number prehistoric of flints' including waste flakes were recovered from 46-54 Fishergate (Rogers 1993, 1316).
During
the Roman period, the morainic ridge and probable Prehistoric route way was
formalised as a main road leading south from the fortress. By the late 1st
century, an extra-mural cemetery had been established to either side of the
road, which was encountered on the eastern side of Fishergate during 19th
century development of the suburb (RCHM 1962, 69). This cemetery is attested
by cremations in urns of the late 1st to 2nd century, and is known to have
extended from Winterscale Street northwards towards the junction of Fishergate
and Fawcett Street (ibid, map). A Roman cremation
cemetery located on Paragon Street, near the Barbican Leisure centre, may
also have belonged to this cemetery, representing its extension further to
the east (YAT.Gaz. 1988.2). A fragment of monumental sculpture from Fishergate
(Plate 1, to right), and further south, a well-preserved
tile tomb from Grange Garth, suggests some high -status burial in the cemetery;
the former is dated by its hairstyle to the 3rd century (RCHM 1962, 69, Plate
113).
Evidence for an associated road-side field system was encountered at 46-54 Fishergate in archaeology from Period 2, following the natural subsoils of Period 1. This activity was manifest as a thin ploughsoil associated with several shallow ditches, containing sherds of abraded pottery dated broadly between the 1st and 4th centuries. It is thought that this period represents Roman agricultural use of the site, and the presence of 4th century pottery suggests it may post-date the cemetery. Some ditches and pits dating to the Roman period were found at Paragon Street (YAT.Gaz. 1988.2).
During the late 7th to mid-9th century, Fishergate was host to the only known Middle Anglo-Saxon settlement in York, which has been interpreted as part of the Anglian settlement of ' Eoforwic' (Kemp 1996). The settlement is suggested to have been established to serve the early medieval ecclesiastical centre associated with the Kings of Northumbria, thought to have been based within the Roman fortress. As a putative wic, the site would have been advantageously located at the confluence of two navigable rivers, an important focal point for the network of Roman roads and on the glacial moraine.
Archaeology of this period at 46-54 Fishergate has been divided into three separate phases allocated to Period 3. The first, Period 3a, was identified by a 'complex of pits, ditches and postholes,' which were dated to the late 7th or early 8th century. These may also have been associated with a pre-determined settlement unit laid out with ditches, and a possible road that would have run parallel to the postulated line of the River Foss. Finds from this period represented both personal items as well as evidence for craft-working, including textile-working, bone- and antler-working, fur preparation and leather-working, as well as precious and ferrous metal-working. Significantly, pottery, coins, glass and stone objects suggest international trade and communication.
Period 3b activity consisted of the dismantling of structures and levelling of middens and pits with a widespread charcoal-laden deposit. A hiatus followed, and was succeeded by reoccupation during the 9th century, albeit on a lesser scale and intensity. Features cutting the charcoal laden-deposit were allocated to Period 3c. Activity ceased at the site in the mid-9th century, which has been linked to the Viking capture of the city in AD 866, when the focus for settlement shifted north along the River Foss. The Fishergate area is not believed to have been settled again until c.AD 1000.
A little activity of Late Anglo-Scandinavian date was encountered at 46-54 Fishergate, confined to the late 10th to 11th century (preceding the Norman Conquest), and consisted of structural activity close to the route of Fishergate, with scattered features closer to the river (Kemp 1996). Further north at Lead Mill Lane, archaeology of Anglo-Scandinavian date was encountered during a watching brief in 1976 (MacGregor 1982). After the Conquest, the fortification of the city in stone included the gate known as Fishergate, close to the King's Pool, from which the suburb takes its name. This activity represents the birth of the suburb, since from the late 11th century until the present day, the area has been continuously occupied.
Good evidence for a range of exploitation has been found for the centuries following the Conquest, including evidence for craft-working in the form of metal-working finds and pits discovered on Paragon Street (YAT.Gaz. 1988.2). Documentary sources provide more comprehensive evidence for activity in the area, not least through sources relating to the numerous churches which occupied the 'continuous ribbon suburb represented by a string of churches on either side of Fishergate' (Kemp and Graves 1996, 72) alongside other references to property ownership.
All Saints Church
Immediately to the south of this activity, inhumations were exposed prior to the construction of a cycle path at Kent Street and Fawcett Street (YAT.Gaz. 1991.15). They have been dated to the medieval period, and are tentatively interpreted as burials relating to the documented church of All Saints, Fishergate.
St George's Chapel
The area to the west of the Blue Bridge Lane site, between the Foss and the Ouse, is known through documentary evidence to have been the location of a small medieval chapel dedicated to St George, thus giving the land the name of St George's Field. The chapel is believed to have been identified, in addition to other medieval buildings, in an evaluation carried out in 1990 (YAT.Gaz. 1990.17). It is recorded as having several phases of use, including that as a chapel of York Castle, a Royal Free Chapel from 1311, and in 1447, when it fell into disuse, it was established as a house for the Guild of St George (Cal.Pat. Rolls. 1447). There are also known to have been mills in this area in earlier centuries, referred to in some documents as the 'castle-milns' (Drake 1736, 249). As early as 1232, Henry III granted land to the Order of the Knight's Templar, stretching from their mill on the Foss, to the bar beneath the Castle at Fishergate, and it was on this land that St George's chapel was erected (Benson 1919, 21).
St Stephen's
A church dedicated to St Stephen, and situated in Fishergate, is mentioned in documents of c.1093/4, when it was granted to Archbishop Thomas I in exchange for land (Tillott 1961, 403; Wilson and Mee 1998). The church does not, however, occur in the 1428 list of churches in York, having been annexed to the parish of St Martin's, Coney Street.
A will of 1405, however, securely placed this church between the churches of St Denys and St George, and as such, it would have been located within the city walls (Raine 1955, 102).
St Helen's
The church of St Helen's, Fishergate, and the 'toft in front', were granted c.AD1100 to the monks of St Martin Marmoutier, as part of a larger grant of Holy Trinity Micklegate (Benson 1911, 77; Raine 1955, 302; Wilson and Mee 1998). St Helen's Fishergate is described as a 'small unimportant church', assessed for taxation at the lowest rate (Raine 1955, 301). Testamentary burials and a list of rectors were known to Drake but not detailed (1736, 250), and Raine (1955, 301) records the presence of a female recluse dwelling in the churchyard in 1435 (possibly confused with the anchoress of All Saints'). In 1585 or 1586, the parish was united with St Lawrence, the church demolished, and the land subsequently rented out (Tillott 1961, 366; Palliser 1974, 97).
Skaife situates this church about half way down Winterscale Street (Raine 1955, 301), although the reasoning for this is uncertain; Drake (1736, 250) states that 'near the further windmill, where some coffins have been lately dug, stood once the parish church of St Elene or St Helen'. Although he depicts a windmill to the south of the area now occupied by Fishergate House, he places St Helen to the east of Fishergate.
The church of St Helen has been associated with a hospital, also situated on Fishergate, and referred to as a 'spittle house in Fishergate, beside St Helen's' (Widdrington 1663). This house is considered to have been in existence in 1399, and is documented into the 15th century, being demolished finally in 1622 (Raine 1955, 301).
St Andrew's Church
Excavation at 45-56 Fishergate found a possible timber church and associated cemetery located in the southwestern corner of the excavation. The earliest written records concerning the site refer to the church of St Andrew's, which was in existence prior to the establishment of the Gilbertine priory into which it was absorbed. The church is believed to have been that mentioned in the Domesday Book, stated as having been purchased by Hugh Fitzbaldric (DB fo 298b; Burton 1996, 49), despite other interpretations that this reference is to St Andrew, Ketmongergate (Tillott 1961, 376). Burial associated with the timber church continued until the 12th century, when it appears to have been replaced by a stone church nearby.
St Andrew's Priory
The site on Blue Bridge Lane is believed to have been part of the precinct of the Gilbertine Priory of St Andrew. The foundation of the Gilbertine priory, the existence of which is attested by regular documentation up to the Dissolution, occurred between 1195 and 1202, and is generally attributed to 1202. Hugh Murdac, 'disputed' Archbishop of Cleveland (Burton 1996, 49), established the priory for twelve canons, and granted the church to the Order of Sempringham (Dugdale in Burton 1996, 50). The priory land is presumed to have occupied an area of c.5.5 hectares (Tillott 1961, 360), and this is supported by a document of 1195, granting permission for the prior and canons to enclose a lane running from Fishergate to the Ouse, in order that they might drain water into the river (Cal. Pat. 1281-1292, 507; Burton 1996, 55). This is the earliest reference to indicate that the land of the priory may have extended right up to the present Blue Bridge Lane. The document was later copied in 1502, to support claims over common land called 'Saynt Andrewe Grene' (YCA B8 of.132v). The existence of a length of wall along Blue Bridge Lane, identified as part of the original priory boundary, would also seem to support this. The northern boundary wall of the priory, abutting the glassworks, is recorded as having been in existence in 1850 and 1864 (Tillott 1961, 360).
Layers post-dating the timber church of St Andrew's were thought to represent imported earth, interpreted as the remains of a foundation platform for the new priory. Extensive evidence relating to the priory was found, including several stone foundations, pieces of wall plaster, window glass, floor tiles and architectural fragments. It was noted, however, that there was little evidence of every day life amongst the assemblage, such as animal bone, organic debris, pottery and personal items, and it was suggested that waste was being dumped into the river at this time. The structures of the priory were summarised as comprising 'a cruciform church, low central tower, north and south transepts with eastern chapels, a presbytery and aisleless nave; chapter house with western vestibule; an eastern dormitory with latrines to the north; and a northern refectory' (Kemp and Graves 1996, 73). All were linked by a continuous alley around a cloister garth. A presumed west range was thought to have been destroyed by the Redfearn's factory. Architectural fragments broadly confirmed the historical date of construction and, along with the window glass, showed some Cistercian influence.
Modifications and alterations continued throughout the 14th to the 16th century, until the priory was dissolved in 1538. At the time of the Dissolution, the priory was valued at about £59, and faced dissolution as a lesser monastery in 1536, but was finally surrendered in 1538 (Burton 1996, 63). The main buildings were demolished, and a limekiln was built in the cloister garth using elements of the cloister arcade. The site was robbed of materials on a large scale, some of which was documented at the time. The north range may have been used as stables or a store in this later period, until it too was robbed. The latest evidence from this period consisted of rubbish pits, dating to the later 16th century.
Immediately following the Dissolution, the site was held in tenure by Richard Goldthorpe. In 1545, it was granted to John Broxholme and John Bellowe, including the land and orchard belonging to it (Burton 1996, 64; Tillott 1961, 360). After apparently being in the ownership of Thomas Goodyear in 1558, the site was again controlled by Goldthorpe in 1560, in addition to other lands owned by the priory, and was then passed on to his wife and son.
Documentation following the dissolution of the priory is largely concerned with property ownership, although some reference is made to water management within the area. In 1552, during a search for water sources in the area, a spring was located 'nigh St Andrewes' (YCR 5, 80). Hargrove (1818) observed the well in the field adjacent to the glassworks. The spring is marked on the 1852 edition of the Ordnance Survey map, within Stone Wall Close. In 1575 and 1577, presentations were made due to the failure of individuals to scour the water sewers in the area. In 1575, Mistress Goodyere neglected to scour 'the watter sewer in St Andrews towards Fyshergaite,' and two years later, someone was presented for 'stoppynge upp a common wattir sewer which shold have passage from Fyshergate thorowe the late dissolved monesteyre of St Andrews and so fourth into Owse' (in Burton 1996, 64).
The church was not parochial and as such, fell quickly into disuse. The site later came into the parish of St Lawrence, and maps and references seem to indicate that the area was used as pasture, meadow or arable land. On maps by Archer (1680), Horsley (1694), Drake (1736), and Chassereau (1750), the area along the east side of the Foss, outside the walls, appears to have been divided into two and sometimes three fields. Drake, in 1736, depicts the site as enclosed (Plate 2) and later maps, including the Ordnance Survey map of 1852 (Plate 3), label the site as 'Stone Wall Close'.
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| Plate 2. Drake's map of 1736 | Plate 3. Ordnance Survey map of 1852 |
In 1739, a deed between Thomas Fairfax and Darcy Preston described the sale of land comprising:
all the site of the late dissolved priory of St Andrew near the city of York, and all that parcel of arable, meadow or pasture land sometimes called the orchard, one close of arable, meadow or pasture land called the Mudd Close. One close of arable, meadow or pasture land ground called St Andrews and one other parcell of arable meadow or pasture land called Shoulder of Mutton, in the several tenures or assigns of John Wilson... (YCA Redfearn deeds).
In 1765, the land was divided into closes commonly called Mudd Close, Stone Wall Close and Shoulder of Mutton Close, formerly known by the name of the site of the dissolved priory of St Andrew. The identification of these closes is unclear. The maps of Horseley (1694) and Drake (1736) show the area to the east of the Foss as being divided into three fields, with a fourth to the south of what became Blue Bridge Lane. The description of the assets of the priory before the Dissolution, including an orchard near the castle mills, might suggest that the northernmost of these fields was the orchard described in the 1739 deed. If Drake's map accurately delineated the closes, and the four shown were linked with the 1739 deed, then the land of the priory site would extend beyond the proposed, and generally accepted, boundaries. Conveniently, the 1765 deed describes three closes that would fit more neatly into suggested area of the priory precinct. Drake's map need not be accurate in showing all the field boundaries of the area, however, Archer's map (1680) shows the same area divided into six or seven fields, and Chassereau's map (1750) shows only two in the same area.
In 1851, Sir William Eden leased land to the owners of the Glass Works, established in 1794 on the site to the north of the Blue Bridge Lane site. In the deed it is described as:
all that messuage, dwelling houses or tenement with the icehouse, stables, out offices, gardens and yard... now in the occupation of Thomas Harrison. And also all that close and parcell of land wherein the said dwellinghouse stables and buildings are standing called or known by the name of St Georges or Glass House Field situated in the parish of St Lawrence in the suburbs of the city of York and containing with the gardens yards and homestead five acres (be the same more or less) bounded by the Highroad between York and Fulford on the east on a messuage and garden belonging to Mr John Waite and on a lane leading to the Rivers Ouse and Foss to the south, by the said River Foss, and by a glass manufactory and premises... on or towards the north (YCA Redfearn deeds).
This suggests that a large area of the Blue Bridge Lane site was in private occupation. The Ice House is shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1852, but by 1892, is shown simply as a small mound. The land was later sold to James Meek, Joseph Spence and George Wilson, and the 1854 document provides a plan, which labels the area as Stone Wall Close, and also includes the property of Mr Waite (YCA YL/Eden M41).
Property to the southeast of the site, on the junction of Blue Bridge Lane and Fishergate, was occupied in the 18th century by one Henry Waite, probably a relative of the John Waite mentioned in William Eden's later documents. In 1745, he made an application to enclose this land (YCA B43/169), and in 1755, it is documented that the wall was removed (YCA B43/482).
The final periods encountered at 46-54 Fishergate, Periods 8, 9 and 10, are briefly mentioned in the description of site sequence provided (Kemp and Graves 1996, 73). The site was apparently virtually abandoned, and used as an orchard until the encroachment of the Glass Works, in the later 19th century and during the 20th century, the site came under 'intensive industrial use'.
The earliest glassworks in York was established on Marygate in 1735, but failed due to a lack of business. Undeterred, in 1794, John Prince established a Glass Making Industry in York, on three acres of pasture land in Fishergate, known as 'Scutt's Close' (Spence n.d, 3; YCA Redfearn deeds). Wilson (1954/5, 3) mentions the division of land on the west side of Fulford Road into two fields, Scutt Close to the north, and Stone Wall Close to the south, separated by a stone wall. The glassworks established in Scutt Close are believed to have been built in part on land belonging to St Andrew's Priory. A report of a find made by the workmen during construction describes a 'small cubicle about eighteen inches square, formed of flags loosely put together, in which imbedded in the soil, which had penetrated through the crevices of the flags was a human skull and a gold finger ring or earring. The skull was perfect with the exception of a deep hole in one side of the head. Near to this was also found a curious leaden medallion, about two inches across, stamped with an Ecclesiastical device, and some fragments of the priory buildings' (Spence n.d., 3: YCA Redfearn deeds).
In 1835, the York Flint Glass Company was established by Joseph Spence, and the firm is known to have expanded from this period. The company specialised in the production of accurate measures for medical and pharmaceutical companies. The documented acquisition of land by Messrs Spence, Wilson and Meek from William Eden in 1854 suggests that they extended into the area known as Stone Wall Close.
The Glass Works became a limited company in 1918, and a modernising programme was undertaken until 1923. In 1923, the site closed down, and the land to the south of the original glassworks, presumably Stone Wall Close, was sold off and developed into a cinema and working men's club (Wilson 1954/4, 5,14). A photograph in a brochure for Redfearn National Glass Ltd (after 1974; YCA Redfearn deeds) shows the whole of the site to the north of Blue Bridge Lane built up, either with factory buildings or other constructions. The firm continued production on the site to the north after 1929, and in 1954/5, Wilson sounded optimistic about the future of the company. The Victoria County History for York mentions that the Glass Works built on the land of the priory in 1958 (Tillott 1961, 360), although this is not referred to in the Redfearn documentation.
The presence of the cinema, described by the Victoria County History as having shown films as early as 1910 (Tillott 1961, 27), suggests that the land may have been sold off earlier than 1923. The VCH states that the City Palace, as it was then, was renamed the Rialto, and as such, burnt down in 1935. However, an account recorded as part of the York Oral History Project does not wholly agree with the Victoria County History. Reg Lambert (YOHP 1988, 15) stated that before the Mecca Bingo Hall that now stands on the site, there was the Rialto cinema, and prior to this, it was the Casino. When Mr Lambert was at Fishergate School, presumably in the early 1920s, the site was occupied by a 'smallish cinema in front, with a roller skating rink at the back'. The proprietor of this business was John Fabier Prenderghast, who had come from Leeds in the 1920s and owned the Casino as it was. In 1923, the Casino went up in flames, observed by Reg Lambert and his friends from the school, and was rebuilt by Mr Prenderghast almost immediately, as a 'brick built effort...in 1928, 1929'. The new cinema, named the Rialto, stood until 1935, when it too burned down. A second Rialto was soon built, and continued showing films throughout the war years, until at least 1947.
York Archaeological Trust (YAT) carried out a scheme of evaluation across the southern half of the Blue Bridge Lane site in 1994. This was undertaken on behalf Mike Griffiths and Associates for Shepherd Homes as part of a programme of work which included the site of Fishergate House to the south. Eight trenches were excavated across the area labelled A to H (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Location of interventions (Interactive SVG image)
Within Fishergate House, Trench A revealed little by way of archaeological significance, although Trench B encountered a layer of rammed pebbles over subsoil dated by pottery to the 15th century, but overlain by deposits of post-medieval date and possible demolition deposits. Trench C encountered scant structural evidence, post-dating a ditch and possible road surface of crushed limestone and mortar of uncertain date. Trench H encountered an inhumation orientated east-west cut into subsoil of uncertain date.
Within Blue Bridge Lane, Trench D exposed subsoil at a depth of 0.35m below the present ground surface. All of the contexts above this were modern in character. Trench E was excavated to a depth of 1.5m below the modern ground surface. It was suggested that the earliest deposits within this trench were the backfill of a possible north-south aligned ditch running parallel to Fishergate. This feature was sealed by a layer of mixed dark brown sandy silt (5005) containing a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and 15th century pottery. Trench F was excavated to a depth of 0.8m below the present ground surface. At this point, a dump of greyish-brown silty clay was exposed, with four features cutting into it. These were identified as a series of three sub-circular postholes and an east-west aligned slot, dated by pottery to the 8th to 9th century. Sealing this was a 0.4m thick pack of greyish-brown clay silt (6014) of a medieval date, which was overlain by modern deposits. Trench G exposed natural subsoil at a depth of 1.85m below the present ground surface. Sealing this was a levelling layer of clay and cobbles (7007), from which a sherd of abraded Roman pottery was recovered. This was cut by a large posthole which was associated with a deliberately laid cobble surface (7006). A north-south aligned robber trench was identified running across the northern end of Trench G. This has been interpreted as the remains of a possible medieval terrace wall associated with St Andrew's Priory. This activity was sealed by a pack of brown silty clay (7005) and a layer of black silty clay (7004) which contained an assemblage of pottery ranging in date from the Roman period to 18th century. The uppermost 0.9m of Trench G consisted of modern strata.
The evaluation of the Blue Bridge Lane site by YAT made contact with archaeological deposits ranging in date from the Roman period to the 19th century. Notably, a number of possible structural features dating to the Anglian occupation of the site were identified in Trench F. The post-priory deposits appeared to be characterised by a substantial and extensive pack of greyish-brown clay silt (5005, 6014, 7005) present in Trenches E, F and G, which in turn was covered by a black clayey-silt soil (6013,7004).
A second phase of archaeological evaluation was undertaken by FAS at Blue Bridge Lane during the winter of 2000 and consisted of a scheme of fourteen trenches across the southeastern and northern areas of the site, as well as the car park. The scheme aimed to evaluate areas which had not been available for investigation during the previous phase. The results corroborated those of the previous archaeological evaluation, and archaeology dating from the Roman period to 20th century was encountered. In particular, deposits indicating Roman activity were encountered in the northern part of the site, Anglian activity was uncovered only near the southern boundary, and medieval activity was found in most areas. However, evaluation trenches in the southeastern part of the site suggested that this area had been truncated heavily by modern development.
In addition, a small two-phase scheme of archaeological evaluation was undertaken by FAS at Marlborough Grove immediately to the west of the grounds of Fishergate House. The scheme was undertaken in advance of a proposed residential development at the site, then occupied by terraced 1930s housing. Six evaluation trenches were excavated in the rear gardens of numbers 16 to 18 Marlborough Grove between January and February 2000. Of these, five contained no significant archaeological deposits and the remaining trench, Trench A, encountered a series of layers of made ground associated with landscaping for Fishergate House, which overlay a buried soil containing the partially exposed remains of three inhumations within an area c.1m 2. The minimum numbers of individuals represented by the intact burials and disarticulated material totalled four. No dateable material was recovered from the buried soil of the graves themselves and they were assumed to be Roman or medieval in date.
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