An archaeological excavation and watching brief at North Baileygate, Pontefract, West Yorkshire

ARCUS was commissioned by Persimmon Homes (West Yorkshire) Limited to undertake a programme of archaeological fieldwork prior to a housing development at the site of a former animal by-products refinery on land off North Baileygate, Pontefract, West Yorkshire (NGR SE 4625 2248). This programme formed the archaeological mitigation strategy and was required as a condition of planning consent in line with government policy outlined in PPG 16 (Department of Environment 1990). This document presents a general overview of the archaeological features identified during the fieldwork undertaken by ARCUS, together with assessments of the cultural material recovered and recommendations for further study. A large number of archaeological features were exposed. These generally took the form of sub-circular and sub-rectangular pits, provisionally identified as cess-pits and pits associated with the tanning industry, which is known from historical sources and previous archaeological work to have been located in the vicinity of the site. The pits were filled with very moist and waterlogged deposits with a very high level of preservation for the material contained within which included wooden artefacts, bone and leather. The pottery recovered from these features indicated a medieval date, from the eleventh to fifteenth centuries. A small number of linear features were also identified, the majority orientated north- south, but containing very little artefactual material. A linear feature, orientated east- west, was associated with a number of stake-holes and preserved wooden stakes, and this complex of features and appeared to be related to the activities associated with the pits. Due to the nature and extent of the archaeological features and of the high degree of preservation of the artefact, it was concluded that the site is of a very high local importance, and that further analysis and reporting needs to be undertaken to fulfil the requirements of the archaeological planning conditions.