YORYM 1995.89x – ST ANDERWGATE/SPEN
LANE, YORK
Ceramic Building
Materials
S Garside-Neville
There are seven boxes of ceramic
building material (CBM) from this excavation.
For the purposes of this assessment, the fragments from each context
have been viewed. It should be noted
that approximately two boxes of this material remains unwashed. This has
resulted in uncertainty of identification of form and/or fabric. The contexts
affected are marked 'UNWASHED' in the Context Listing below.
This assessment supercedes the
summary submitted on 13th December 1995.
Roman material from this site
consists of brick (used in hypocausts, walls, etc.) and tegulae (roof
tile). Some of the tegulae was massive
in size which may indicate an early date.
The medieval material falls into two
groups - earlier medieval and later medieval material. The earlier material consists of curved and
flanged tile. This material is
currently dated from the 12th century to the early 13th century. It does not occur on this site in great
amounts.
The bulk of the material is 13th
century or later in date. Large peg
tile with a central, square peghole is the norm for York, and is found in
abundance on this site. A 14th century
fabric was present amongst the roof tile.
There is one example of a nib tile, possibly from a two-nibbed tile,
which is regularly found in small quantities on York sites. Nib tile were perhaps used for small-scale
patching of roofs.
The ridge from this site consists of
plain examples, and also knife-cut crested ridge tile. Added to this are two fragments of distinct crests
shaped by pressing the finger, or pinching up the clay, along an applied clay
strip. These are not as common as the
knife-cut crests.
There is one definite example of
glazed tile. Although it does appear to
be roof tile (as opposed to floor tile) the form is uncertain. Only very few plain tiles are glazed in
York, and occasionally flanged tile is glazed.
Closer examination of the fabric may help with identification.
The brick from this site is probably
datable to the 14th-15th centuries, judging by the dimensions, form
(particularly indented borders) and fabric.
One or two fragments have atypical measurements and could be later in
date than the rest.
Of particular interest are two
specialised items. The fragment from
1131 appears to be a large-scale version of a knife-cut crested ridge
tile. The fragment of 1104 is probably
of a brick fabric, is sanded on the bottom, and has raised edges. It is incomplete, and may have been
circular, oval or arched in shape. It
has a knife-slashed 'handle' on an exterior surface. It could be some sort of roof finial, or may not be building
material at all, perhaps having some sort of industrial function.
There was one fragment of limestone
that may have been used as a stone roof tile, but its identification is
uncertain.
There is little evidence of
residuality, being only a few fragments of early medieval material int the
later contexts, and a little Roman material in the earlier medieval
contexts. The fragments tend to be
quite large and mostly unabraded which suggests primary deposition.
This material would contribute
usefully to the study of the site, and to refining the date of CBM within York.
Analysis
Further work on the sample is
recommended. This would comprise:
- washing
of unwashed material
- recording
of material: identification of form & fabric, weighing and measuring,
selection for discard or retention
- analysis
of information in conjunction with site and other finds information
- production
of report and archive
S Garside-Neville
17th December 1995
1995.89 -
Context Listing:
Crested ridge =
ridge tile with a decoration along the apex of the ridge. The decoration can be applied, knife-cut or
thumb impressed
Flanged =
12th-e13th roof tile
Plain = roof tile,
could be peg, nib or a combination of both, but
fragment/s examined undiagnostic
Ridge/Curved =
Fragment of roof tile which may be a ridge tile (13th+) or could be curved (12th-e13th)
Specialised item =
fragment of unknown function; may not be building material
UNWASHED = where this phrase occurs in the form
column this means that the identifications are very uncertain due to the
fragments from that context being unwashed
u/s Crested ridge, daub, plain 13th+
1001 Plain 13th+
1021 Brick, plain 14th-15th
1029 Plain, ?flanged 13th+
1030 Plain 13th+
1033 Peg, ?limestone roof tile,
brick, ridge 14th-15th
1035 Brick, plain, peg 14th+
1037 Brick, peg, plain 14th+
1040 Peg, plain 13th+
1044 Peg, ridge, brick 14th-15th
1045 Ridge, plain, mortar lump 13th+
1053 Plain 13th+
1058 Stone, peg 13th+
1060 ?Plain, plain 13th+
1063 Ridge, peg 13th+
1064 Plain 13th+
1076 Plain 13th+
1078 Peg 13th+
1082 Plain, ?plain 13th+
1086 Crested ridge, ridge, ?splash
glazed plain 14th+
1089 Plain, brick 14th-15th
1096 Peg 13th+
1097 Brick 14th+
1102 Peg 13th+
1104 Peg, specialised item 13th+
1105 Plain 13th+
1107 Peg, brick 14th+
1110 Daub, peg, plain 13th+
1114 Peg, plain, brick 14th-15th
1115 Peg 13th+
1116 Peg, plain 13th+
1119 Peg 13th+
1122 Plain 13th+
1124 ?Daub ?
1127 Plain, peg, brick 14th-15th
1129 Ridge, plain 13th+
1131 Brick, ?Crested ridge 14th+
1135 Peg 13th+
1139 Brick 14th-15th
1142 Plain 13th+
1150 Brick 14th-15th
1160 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1162 Peg 13th+
1167 ?Daub ?
1171 Plain 13th+
1174 Plain 13th+
1175 Ridge/curved, brick, peg 14th-15th
1177 Peg, plain 14th+
1181 Plain 13th+
1184 Brick 14th-15th
1185 Peg, plain, brick 14th-15th
1187 Plain 13th+
1188 Plain 13th+
1189 Plain, ?daub 13th+
1190 Brick 14th+
1192 Plain 13th+
1195 Plain 13th+
1197 ?Plain, Peg 13th+
1214 Plain 13th+
1217 Brick, plain 14th-15th
1222 Peg, nib 13th+
1226 Plain 13th+
1228 Plain 13th+
1229 ?Ridge, plain ?13th+
1232 UNWASHED: Peg, ?plain 13th+
1236 Peg 13th+
1240 Plain 13th+
1243 Plain 13th+
1245 ?Plain ?13th+
1248 Plain 13th+
1249 Plain 13th+
1254 Plain 13th+
1257 Plain 13th+
1265 Plain 13th+
1273 Plain 13th+
1279 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1281 Plain 13th+
1285 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1289 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1291 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1292 Plain 13th+
1294 Plain 13th+
1307 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1309 UNWASHED: ?Plain ?13th+
1312 Peg, ridge/curved, plain,
?flanged 13th+
1316 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1318 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1319 Peg 13th+
1320 Plain 13th+
1330 UNWASHED: Ridge ?13th+
1334 Daub ?
1336 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1347 UNWASHED: Peg, plain, daub 13th+
1348 UNWASHED: Peg, plain 13th+
1351 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1353 UNWASHED: Plain, peg 13th+
1355 Plain 13th+
1361 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1363 Plain 13th+
1384 Plain 13th+
1386 Plain 13th+
1388 Plain 13th+
1400 Plain 13th+
1403 UNWASHED: Peg, plain 13th+
1406 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1417 Plain 13th+
1421 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1436 UNWASHED: Peg 13th+
1438 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1459 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1473 UNWASHED: Plain, peg 13th+
1478 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1482 UNWASHED: Ridge/curved,
?flanged, tegula,
plain 13th+
1483 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1484 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1485 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1486 UNWASHED: Plain, ?ridge 13th+
1489 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1500 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1501 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1504 UNWASHED: Peg, plain 13th+
1507 UNWASHED: ?Tegula, plain, peg 13th+
1514 ?Plain ?13th+
1515 UNWASHED: ?Plain ?13th+
1522 UNWASHED: ?Brick, ?plain ?
1524 Tegula Roman
1528 UNWASHED: ?Crested ridge, plain 13th+
1532 UNWASHED: ?Plain ?13th+
1337 ?Plain ?
1539 UNWASHED: Plain 13th+
1542 UNWASHED: Roman brick, tegula,
?flanged
ridge/curved ?12th+
S Garside-Neville
17th December 1995