Richard Hall

Director of Archaeology and Deputy Director of the York Archaeological Trust, he was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and Queen’s University, Belfast. In 1971 he graduated with a degree in archaeology.

His dissertation, in which he updated the catalogue of Viking Age material for Ireland, was to be the beginning of his life-long study of the Vikings.

He was awarded his doctorate from Southampton University in 1985 for work on towns of the English Danelaw, and began his career in archaeology excavating several sites in Dublin and Derby, and at Mount Grace Priory, near Northallerton.

Moving to York, he joined York Archaeological Trust in 1974 and directed excavations on key city sites undergoing development until he reached one of the most notable points in his career in 1976, when he led the Coppergate excavations.

Overseeing those excavations for the next five years, he discovered the well-preserved Viking Age wooden houses, textiles, shoes and other 10th Century artifacts from industrial and domestic life preserved in the heart of York.

The excavations attracted enormous local interest and international attention from scholars and media alike.

An imaginative innovation at the site was to provide the public with viewing points from where the work could be seen as it progressed, the philosophy being that York’s Viking past was not the exclusive preserve of academics but belonged to the people of York.

The huge wealth and range of discoveries encouraged the Archaeological Trust to make a permanent display of the Viking Age city. Luckily, the developers of the site were happy with that prospect. Having finished the excavation, they spent a couple of years planning and building the Jorvik Centre and it opened at Easter 1984.

By pioneering an engaging format to put the findings into day-to-day context, Dr Hill brought the past to life for millions of people, steering them towards a better, more intimate understanding of a subject that many had thought to be as dry as old bones.

When the Jorvik Centre opened its doors, he was pleasantly surprised at the interest that it generated.

He would later recall: “I remember vividly coming down on the opening morning, to be met by an enormous crowd of people which swirled all the way around the Coppergate square and up into the street. People had come down from Aberdeen and up from Kent to be here at the opening and nearly 3,000 people passed through the doors on the first day.

“I think we have put York in its Viking Age back on the map not just locally, but nationally and internationally.”

On the historical importance of the dig, he added: “This site here at Coppergate was an opportunity not to look through a tiny archaeological keyhole but to see a great archaeological vista in front of us.

“Between 1976 and 1981 we dug 1,000 square metres and saw so much that was new and exciting and so very well-preserved – that’s what inspired the creation of the centre.”

Dr Hall’s interest and expertise led him to advise numerous international excavations including those at Birka, Sweden in 1984, the Navan project, the Armagh, project, the Forsand migration period village reconstruction in Norway, and for archaeological projects to the new Danish Science Foundation between 1990-93.

He was also active in the Lubeck International Urban Archaeology Symposium and became a member of the Kaupang Norway Project Council.

Dedicated to building international relationships, Dr Hall was a trustee of the Foundation for the Preservation of Archaeological Heritage to help build academic and fundraising links with Americans of Scandinavian descent.

He was also devoted to supporting national archaeological organisations and, among other things, had been a council member of the Society of Antiquaries of London, a member of the Council for British Archaeology Executive and Honorary Secretary, and a council member for the Institute for Archaeologists (then Institute of Field Archaeologists) and Chairman of it between 1987-89.

He was President for the Society for Medieval Archaeology President of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society and Chairman of Trustees.

Besides his specialism in Viking Age archaeology, Dr Hall held important positions at Ripon Cathedral, York Minster and other churches throughout the UK, active in the conservation and analysis of church fabric. He worked closely with universities and held a post as lecturer in Departments of Continuing Education, most notably at the University of Leeds.

A prolific writer, to his knowledge and dedication he added a dry sense of humour and a diligent, fastidious and meticulous approach.

Dr Hall leaves his wife, Ailsa Mainman, and two teenage sons. His funeral will be held on Monday in the quire of York Minster at 1.15pm.