Did York have an extensive riverside with wharves and jetties projecting forward as found in London? Despite all our endeavours, we had not hitherto been able to find a suitable site to investigate York's riverfront. We were therefore very grateful when a crumb came along.

This consisted of a circular hole 5.5 metres (18 feet) in diameter and 9m (30ft) deep, commissioned by York City Council on behalf of Yorkshire Water, dug to contain a pumping station for a flood relief scheme. This lay right in the middle of the waterfront on the west bank of the River Ouse – that is, within the Roman colonia, and 20m (66ft) from the present river edge. The [York Archaeological] Trust seized the opportunity to investigate, directed by Rhona Finlayson.

The top layers were rather boring – dumped layers covering most of the Middle Ages, perhaps the floors of a warehouse at a time when the waterfront had probably moved further out into the river. More substantial remains came in the 11th century when upright timbers were found, forming three sides of a box which could have been part of a wharf.

A guide to future flooding?

The main interest came in the Anglo-Scandinavian periods, when extensive wickerwork and wattle walls were found, some of them perhaps dating as early as the 8th century. Below this was half a metre of alluvium representing extensive flooding, but below that, there were substantial Roman levels with massive masonry including what may have been a retaining wall of the late 2nd century.

Everywhere interspersed with the remains were layers of fine silts representing flood deposits. These when dated may prove to be the most valuable evidence of all, for they show the frequency of flooding in the past: will they prove a guide to flooding in the future?


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