York railway station work reveals Victorian pavement and more

An archaeological dig has revealed a Victorian brick pavement which hasn't been walked on for many years - alongside other, more ancient finds.

The pavement was revealed during work to create a new entrance to the railway station in York, excavated as part of the demolition of the Queen Street bridge.

Archaeologists from York Archaeology have used the opportunity to unearth parts of the city that have been buried for nearly 150 years.

Preparations for the bridge's demolition also involved the construction of a temporary road over the station's long stay car park, paving the way for archaeologists to uncover some significant finds.

The archaeologists unearthed 'Scoria' bricks, made from blast furnace slag from the industrial North, which were used in lining the approaches to the station erected in 1877. 

Project manager for York Archaeology, Mary-Anne Slater, said: "This is an area that has been substantially disturbed by building works during the Victorian era.

"Beneath the flags, we have found drainage ditches from the 19th century, and below them, evidence of large medieval ditches containing broken green glaze pottery and animal bones dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries.

Broken pottery and animal bones are among the artefacts unearthed by archaeologists in York (Image: YORK ARCHAEOLOGY)

"This area outside the city walls was agricultural land during the medieval period, and the ditches may have been used for dumping rubbish from the medieval city." 

It is known that a Roman cemetery existed on this site and some disturbed bone has been recovered in part of the trench, probably lifted from lower levels by ploughing.

But archaeologists have yet to excavate any skeletons comparable with those found previously at York Station. 

Deputy leader of the council and executive member for transport and the economy, Cllr Pete Kilbane, said: "This is a hugely complex piece of work and due to York’s 2,000 years of continuous habitation, unearthing history is a factor that we must plan for.

The demolition of the Queen Street bridge in York has paved the way for exciting archaeological finds (Image: YORK ARCHAEOLOGY)

"We liaise closely with York Archaeology to protect any discoveries while managing disruption and allowing the works to progress.

"From previous work in the York Station area we know that there is a high possibility of Roman burials being present.

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"York Archaeology is on-site monitoring the work to ensure that any archaeological deposits are excavated and recorded before works progress.

"I want to thank all the teams involved over the weekend for their hard work to ensure that the diversion road was open ahead of schedule, which is a great achievement."

Archaeological exploration will continue below the Queen Street bridge site once the bridge itself has been removed and before the new permanent road is installed.