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 with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, England. It carries out archaeological investigations, fieldwork, excavation and research in York, Yorkshire and throughout Britain and beyond. Its staff include specialists in archaeological excavation, historic building analysis and recording, artefact curation, conservation and research, archaeological computing, and illustration and design.

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 north-west of London, south-east ...

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

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, and ''Northlight Heritage'' in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, 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 The Jorvik Viking Centre is a museum and visitor attraction in York, England, containing lifelike mannequins and life-size dioramas depicting Viking life in the city. Visitors are taken through the dioramas in small carriages equipped with spea ...

in Coppergate Walk, York, which is noted for its

living history Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to ree ...

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 Barley Hall is a reconstructed medieval townhouse in the city of York, England. It was built around 1360 by the monks of Nostell Priory near Wakefield and extended in the 15th century. The property went into a slow decline and by the 20th centur ...

, 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 The City Walls Experience at Micklegate Bar is located in the southern gatehouse of the historical city walls of York, England. It is operated by the Jorvik Group (part of York Archaeological Trust) and uses maps, display screens and video pre ...

From 2014, the Trust operated two small museums in gatehouses of York's city walls: the

Richard III Experience at Monk Bar The Richard III Experience at Monk Bar (formerly known as the ''Richard III Museum'') was located in Monk Bar, the tallest of the four gatehouses in the historical city walls of York, England. It described the life of Richard III, the last ki ...

and the

Henry VII Experience at Micklegate Bar The City Walls Experience at Micklegate Bar is located in the southern gatehouse of the historical city walls of York, England. It is operated by the Jorvik Group (part of York Archaeological Trust) and uses maps, display screens and video pre ...

. Both closed in 2020 at the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, 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 disea ...

. 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

* Organisations based in York Charities based in North Yorkshire 1972 establishments in England {{UK-org-stub