York

Legionary fortress in Roman Britain, one of England's best-preserved sites. Of particular interest are the deposits in the Coppergate area which illustrate the period when the city was an important center of the Vikings. In Roman times, it became a bishopric and renowned as a center for learning and theology. Remains of the fortress were later incorporated into the medieval walls and excavations have revealed a large palace-like structure existed. Waterlogged conditions have preserved timber buildings of the Viking period. Certain industries prospered, including bronze, glass, iron and bone-working, and wood-turning. Recent excavations have also uncovered York's Norman castles, built in 1067-1068. Excavations have shown 10th-century York, a Danish settlement, to have been a center of international trade, economic specialization, and town planning; it was on its way to becoming by 1086 (in the Domesday survey) one of Europe's largest cities, numbering at least 2,000 households.

One of England’s most historic and best-preserved cities. In 625 the Roman city of York became a bishopric and in the following century under Bishop Alcuin was renowned as a centre for learning and theology. The Minster church was founded in 627; most of the building, with its famous stained glass and chapter house, is 13th and 14th century, but excavations beneath the Minster have found parts of its earlier foundations. Recent excavations on the Micklegate/Ousegate pavement and the Coppergate sites have illuminated the period under Danish rule between 865 and 954. In 883 King Guthfrith became the first Christian Viking ruler, and Anglo-Danish Yorvik developed into an important North Sea trading centre enjoying prolonged commercial success. The Danes colonized a new area between the Rivers Foss and Ouse which centred around their palace and was enclosed by a bank. On several sites waterlogged conditions have preserved timber buildings of the period; some were erected on piles while others rested on stone-filled sleeper trenches. Several examples had mortared floors, but the industrial workshops usually had rafts and planks strewn with brushwood. The walls were mostly woven screens of elder and birch covered in daub, supported by uprights and jointed with pegs. A variety of industries seem to have prospered in Yorvik, including bronze, glass, iron and boneworking and wood-turning. The botanical remains indicate that leather-working and tanning were also important, a process which created considerable squalor. Recent excavations have also illuminated the character of York’s Norman castles, built in 1067-8 after the town was sacked for fostering a revolt against King William. Hundreds of late medieval buildings have also come under archaeological scrutiny, and some of the standing buildings, such as the Merchant Venturer’s Hall, rank among the finest medieval structures in Britain.