Welcome to the history of York

After the Norman Conquest the city’s appearance was changed dramatically, especially by new royal and religious buildings. The Trust has dug on the site of many of these, including the two castles established by William the Conqueror. We have also excavated at the College of the Vicars Choral of York Minster at The Bedern, and at the great Benedictine Abbey of St Mary. We have relocated lost sites such as the medieval Jewish burial ground, the Gilbertine Priory of St Andrew, St Nicholas’s leper hospital and several parish churches. Our study of some of the burials has allowed us to learn more about the health of the medieval population.

The excavation of medieval shops, dwellings and craftsmen’s workshops has revealed more of commercial and industrial life. We have investigated the city’s finest guildhall, the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, and many private houses. At Coffee Yard we had a special opportunity to combine archaeology, architecture and the written record when we restored a 15th century town house now known as Barley Hall

Trade

York continued as a important trading centre after the Norman Conquest. The city acted as the main administrative and judicial centre for the north of England and benefited from extensive royal patronage. It had a royal charter by the 12th century and could levy its own taxes from the 13th century. By the 14th century York was England’s richest provincial town and the Merchant Adventurers was its richest guild. At its height, York was exporting wool, cloth and grain to northern Europe in return for textiles, cooking and table wares, and wines. Iron, olive oil, fish, figs and raisins were brought from Spain, furs from the Baltic and fish from Iceland. Cloth and ale were exported to Scandinavia in return for herrings.
Craft

Crafts in York became increasingly specialised and artisans organised themselves into guilds; at the height of the city’s prosperity there were 80 of them. Street names still indicate some of the many occupations pursued in the medieval city, for example Colliergate, the street of colliers or charcoal dealers, and Hornpot Lane where horn workers pursued their craft. Other clues are to be found in the tools carpenters, leather workers, plumbers, textile workers and other craftsmen lost or discarded. Moulds for casting jewellery and containers have been recovered and, at Bedern, we found the workshops, hearths and furnaces of a foundry producing small metal cauldrons. Amongst the evidence for food production are two fairly unusual finds — a complete pair of sandstone quern stones for grinding grain, found at Fishergate, and an iron shovel found at the mouth of a baker’s oven in Coppergate
Domestic

The Trust has recovered a wide variety of domestic items from both religious and secular sites. These include structural fittings, window glass, door and chest fittings, locks and keys, and large stone lamps. Kitchen utensils such as cooking vessels, knives and spoons have been found on many sites. At Coppergate, a wooden bucket was recovered from the bottom of a barrel-lined well and a lavatory seat was found still in place above a cess pit. Medieval feasting is illustrated by finds of fine imported table ware and glass, and the bones of swan, deer, pheasant and boar dumped in middens. Chess was one of the board games played and the unusual discovery of a wooden ball shows that bowls was played in York as early as the 15th century.
Religion

A new and prestigious Minster was erected immediately after the Norman Conquest and through successive rebuilding it grew in size and wealth. Both the Minster and York’s many religious houses enjoyed royal and aristocratic patronage, while wealthy citizens often favoured the numerous parish churches. The many carved stone fragments found by the Trust hint at the elegance of many of these establishments, as does a rare discovery — masses of particularly fine painted window glass dumped during the 16th century demolition of the Priory of St Andrew in Fishergate. Work by the Trust on the site of the College of the Vicars Choral at Bedern also revealed the buildings and gardens of priests employed to sing in the Minster. Objects, including coins and tokens, gold rings and fine glass vessels, indicate that these canons lived a comfortable lifestyle.
Dress

There are many personal everyday items in the Trust’s collection. These include buckles, strap terminals, scabbards, purse frames, shoes and belts. One of our more unusual discoveries was a set of wax writing tablets dating from the 14th century. These are match box sized and are complete with an iron stylus and decorated leather case. Their owner used them to jot down a curious mixture — a document in Latin, a set of accounts and a love poem in Middle English. Other rare finds include a pearl and garnet ring, a brooch made of twisted gold wire and a gold ring with a sapphire setting. We have found a number of personal seals. One depicts a small squirrel and has an inscription in Middle English, I CRAKE NOTIS, or in modern English ‘I crack nuts’.
Where can I stay?
Accommodation in York.

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