Why are we digging at the St Leonard's Hospital site?

The site is one of the most important to be found in York. It occupies the western angle of the former Roman legionary fortress. Its boundary is formed in part by the stone fortress defences, including the west corner tower (known as the 'Multangular Tower') which still stands to a height of over 8m. Close by is the Anglian Tower, a mysterious addition to the fortress defences which is thought to date to the late Roman or Anglian periods. The buried remains of a massive stone interval tower, the Roman earthen rampart and perhaps a road and buildings all lie within the area to be investigated.

It is hoped also to shed light on what happened hereabouts in the Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian (Viking Age) periods, when the fortress appears to have been a royal and ecclesiastical centre. Very little evidence of what was happening in the fortress at this time has been found to date, despite well over 30 years of investigations. The current excavation hopes to find evidence of Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian occupation (perhaps in the fortress towers) and re-use of the fortress defences.

The hospital of St Leonard was established by the late 11th century under William II. Initially it was known as the hospital of St Peter, as it had connections with the church of St Peter - that is, York Minster. The hospital flourished until the Reformation as the largest hospital in England in terms of inmates and staff; in the 14th century it maintained up to 18 clergy, 16 sisters and female servants, 30 choristers, 10 private boarders and 140-240 poor sick people. This staff list gives some idea of the range of religious, spiritual, medical, social and charitable roles which a medieval hospital might fulfil. Part of the hospital complex was rebuilt in the 13th century, and a gate, chapel and infirmary with vaulted undercroft survive up to first floor level on the excavation site. These fine structures, and the remains of an adjacent, massive building below ground, are being investigated.

After the hospital was closed by Henry VIII, most of the buildings were demolished and the site was devoted to industrial and commercial activities for some 300 years. Then in 1830 the area became part of a 'garden of antiquities' around the Yorkshire Museum. Finally a large civic air-raid shelter was built on the site during the Second World War. All of these features are being investigated during the current excavations.

Further reading:

For an introduction to York’s archaeology, see R.A. Hall York (Batsford/English Heritage, 1996).

For Roman York see P.J. Ottaway Roman York (Batsford/English Heritage, 1993).

For information on the medieval hospital, see N. Orme and M. Webster The English Hospital York University Press, 1995; C. Rawcliffe Medicine for the Soul (1999) and Medicine & Society in Later Medieval England (1995).