We might choose to look at a period, such as Roman, Middle Ages, Georgian, Victorian, Modern, using the Historic Atlas.
For example, the Bishophill History Group have gathered together material focusing on Roman Bishophill. The Roman road to Tadcaster ran through the area, and there was another road parallel to what is now Skeldergate, but a little further inland. The civilian town eventually extended into what is now Bishophill and Micklegate, and became a planned city, a colonia by 237 AD. (Alison Sinclair offered a walk on this topic some years ago.)
There was a planned piped public water system, with the remains of culverts and fountains found around St Mary Bishophill Junior. An altar dedicated to Jupiter was found in Bishophill Senior in 1638. A Roman well was found in Carr’s Lane in 1973, and nearby brickwork dates from the Roman period of around 200 AD. A large Roman cemetery in Bishophill covered most of Baile Hill Terrace, Kyme St and Falkland St. It is thought that a Roman wall ran parallel and close to Victor St.
The Emperor Severus, the first black emperor, and his son Caracalia, were based in York around 210 AD, and it may well be that their base was in the terraced land in Bishophill. Roman rule collapsed by the 4th century.
There were plans to investigate the site of the Queen’s Hotel, at the corner of Micklegate and Skeldergate in 1988. In 1989 the remains of a Viking settlement and an earlier Roman building were found. But sadly, time was limited and scandalously the developers proceeded to destroy Roman remains, constructing underground car parking instead.
