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.

Stone moulds, one for the manufacture of brooches and the other for an ampulla

Clay moulds for the manufacture of buckles