Remains of church found as work starts on square

The £500,000 revamp of the city’s famous King’s Square, at the top of the iconic Shambles, began on Monday as part of a multi-million pound programme to overhaul key locations to attract more shoppers and tourists.

The work has uncovered evidence of the ancient Holy Trinity Church which was first mentioned in 1268. While the medieval building was demolished in 1861, it was replaced by a new church in the Victorian era. But it only lasted until 1937 when it was knocked down to create King’s Square.

An archeological dig will begin next week, although the council stressed it is hoped the excavations will not delay the work to the square.

The cabinet member of transport, planning and sustainability, Coun Dave Merrett, said: “The city of York is home to over 2,000 years of history and it’s what makes York so unique. We have to treasure this and encourage important digs like this that could unearth any number of important archaeological finds. However, we also understand just how important the build up to Christmas is for retailers and businesses, so we will complete as much as we can of this first phase ahead of St Nicholas Fayre, so the square can remain open for this important event.”

The council’s archaeologist, John Oxley, confirmed resurfacing works have revealed the foundations of the Victorian church and possibly the medieval building as well. Archaeologists will clean and record the remains and remove any burials that might be affected by the resurfacing works.

Mr Oxley said: “This is very exciting as opportunities, however brief, to look at these vanished churches in York are very rare.”

The work on King’s Square is the first of six city centre projects which are being conducted under the £3.3m Reinvigorate York project.

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