The York Archaeological Trust for Excavation and Research Limited (YAT) is an educational charity, established in 1972 in the city of

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, England, and trading under the York Archaeology brand since 2023. The charity presents archaeology to the public through visitor attractions and events, and its commercial arm carries out archaeological investigations, fieldwork, excavation and research in York and throughout Britain and beyond.

History

YAT was established in 1972, became a registered charity in 1979, and incorporated as a

company limited by guarantee A company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of company where the liability of members in the event the company is wound up is limited to a (typically very small) amount listed in the company's articles or constitution. Most have no share ca ...

in the same year. Peter Addyman, an archaeologist and later a professor at the universities of Bradford and York, was instrumental in its creation and was the body's first director, holding that position until his retirement in 2002. Addyman led excavations in York's

Coppergate Coppergate is a street in the city centre of York, in England. The street runs north-east from the junction of Castlegate, Nessgate, King Street and Clifford Street, to end at the junction of Pavement, Piccadilly, Parliament Street, and Hig ...

area between 1976 and 1981, and in 1984 the trust opened the Jorvik Viking Centre on the site, in order to share the discoveries with the public and educate visitors on the significance of the

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

in York and the British Isles. Patrick Ottaway was head of fieldwork at YAT for a time until 2006. Since October 2023, York Archaeology has been the trading name of all YAT's activities.

Commercial operations

YAT primarily provides archaeological services to fulfil planning conditions, serving clients from private individuals to local authorities and commercial developers, as a company operating within the commercial archaeology sector. In 2011, Trent and Peak Archaeology was taken over by YAT, allowing extension of their commercial archaeology operations to

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. YAT also operated ''ArcHeritage'', providing archaeological services in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, and ''Northlight Heritage'' in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, a social enterprise promoting better use of heritage resources. In November 2021, the three archaeological services – York, Trent & Peak and ArcHeritage – were brought together under the York Archaeology brand.

Visitor attractions

The Trust created and runs the Jorvik Viking Centre in Coppergate Walk, York, which is noted for its living history approach. The centre is on the site of the Trust's 'Viking Dig' which contributed to archaeologists' knowledge of town life in Viking Age England. Other sites in York run by the Jorvik Group are: * Barley Hall, an excavated and reconstructed medieval house in Coffee Yard, off Stonegate * DIG: An Archaeological Adventure in St Saviour's Church, St Saviourgate * City Walls Experience at Micklegate Bar From 2014, the Trust operated two small museums in gatehouses of York's city walls: the Richard III Experience at Monk Bar and the Henry VII Experience at Micklegate Bar. Both closed in 2020 at the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, owing to their limited capacity for

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...

. In April 2022, the Henry VII Experience was replaced by the City Walls Experience. Since the 1980s, the Jorvik Viking Festival has been run by YAT each February half term.

Other operations

The trust publishes printed and web-based reports, popular books and information resources. It offers opportunities to take part in archaeological investigation through its annual training excavation 'Archaeology Live', and hosts the Community Archaeologist for York.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Authority control Organisations based in York Charities based in North Yorkshire 1972 establishments in England