York Museums Trust Blog

Archaeologists have been on site at York Castle Museum as part of our plans to recreate a former prisoners’ yard, writes museum manager Ian Carlisle.

As you may or may not know, the space “between the wings” of the former Debtors’ Prison building (or the South Building) was a prison exercise yard in  the eighteenth century.

It had a low wall across the front, topped with railings to stop the prisoners escaping, and a gate in the centre for access. The citizens of York used to come and gawp at the prisoners exercising in the yard.

Eighteenth century view of the Debtors' Prison. The low wall and railings can be seen running across the space between the wings

Cropped print of another eighteenth-century image, showing a close-up of the low wall, railings and gate

We are hoping to reinstate the wall, railings and gate and resurface the yard so that visitors can go into it as part of the York Castle Prison exhibition.

Before we can do this, English Heritage have insisted that we carry out a small scale archaeological excavation to define the position of the wall, to make sure we rebuild it in the correct position. They also wanted us to try to find out what the original yard surface consisted of.

We contracted On Site Archaeology to do the work and they spent three days excavating three trenches:

General view of the site. One trench can be seen across the yard in the foreground, where the remains of a wall running diagonally across it were found. This may be remains of one of the medieval castle buildings. There is a second trench at the corner of the building, middle left, to locate the low wall, the third between the two diggers, also to locate the wall.

Trench to locate the position of the low wall. The diggers think they have found the end of the wall next to the wrought iron access gate here.

Excavating the trench at the corner of the right-hand wing. This trench was to find the position of the wall where it meets the building, but it also shows the foundations of the building.

Close-up of the above trench. The arrow points to the foundations for the building, which are very shallow for such a large structure.

One interesting find was that of the base of a Romano-British pot. It was possibly a beaker, something like the Nene Valley Ware example below, but it is impossible to tell its exact form from such a small sherd. At the end of the life of the pot, such bases were commonly used as gaming counters. It was found in disturbed soil so does not necessarily indicate Roman activity on the site

Nene Valley beaker

Unfortunately, there was no indication of the original surface of the yard. The excavation team initially thought a layer of cinders could have been it, but a later drainage trench did not cut through it, so this theory was abandoned.

The next step is for the archaeologists to report back to us and to our architect before we decide how to proceed.

Things are really hotting up at the Castle this week and the museum is buzzing with activity as we get close to opening our exciting new exhibitions. Our major new exhibition, The Sixties, and our Studio activity spaces will be opening in time for Easter weekend, so everybody is running around making sure it will all be ready on time.

The Sixties is virtually complete and looking fantastic already. Huge brightly-coloured transparent mobiles are being installed hanging from the ceiling, psychedelic-colours are everywhere and our Curators are busy putting objects such as Dansette Record Players, Sindy Dolls and Beatles 45s in the cases. Some of the larger objects are beginning to arrive too. A pristine 1960s Lambretta scooter turned up today and a replica Mercury space capsule is also due. We are also eagerly awaiting a working jukebox so the sounds of the bands and singers of the time will be creating the right atmosphere.

The Kitchen Studio activity and demonstration space is almost finished and looks like a TV Chef’s studio. It has all the modern equipment needed as well as a reconstructed historic range so all aspects of food and domestic life can be demonstrated. A big plasma screen at the back shows closeups of the demonstrations so you can get really close to the action. The Studio will be open over Easter to allow visitors to learn how beautifully-decorated eggs called Pace Eggs were made.

The Military Studio is also taking shape now and will be armed and ready to show off some of our weapons and armour at Easter. You will be able to get up close to the objects and perhaps even handle them. You might even get to try on a real Tudor helmet!

There has been a huge effort by our staff and the designers over the winter period and it is all coming to fruition now. Easter week will be exhausting but fun!

Seeing as it’s late October, what better time to talk about spooky happenings at the Castle Museum. No, not the janitor in a ghost costume about to be unmasked by those meddling kids and their strange mutant dog , but genuine spooky going-ons witnessed (allegedly) by many staff over the years.

As you may or may not know, the Castle Museum is housed in two eighteenth-century prison buildings, so if anywhere is going to be haunted, this is the place.

The most common supernatural happenings are actually sounds – more specifically people singing. A few years ago, a local TV news crew were filming after hours in Kirkgate (the Victorian Street) and asked staff to turn off the sound effects in the gallery which overlooks it. The guide went up the stairs to the closed doors and could hear women singing. But when he opened the doors, it abruptly stopped and when he checked the equipment, the sound effects were already off.

On another occasion, Des, our Health and Safety Manager volunteered to stay in the Condemned Cell on his own overnight for charity. Bear in mind that this is the cell where criminals such as Dick Turpin spent their last night on Earth before going to meet their maker at the end of the hangman’s rope. Anyway, Des had settled in with his laptop for company when he heard people singing. He assumed it was Dave (one of the guides and a bit of a joker), who had sneaked in and was playing a trick on him. It wasn’t. Des checked everywhere but couldn’t find the source of the singing, at which point discretion got the better part of valour and he fled up to the offices for a cup of coffee and some nice bright anti-ghost fluorescent light.

Various spooks have also been seen. A little dog has been spotted a number of times by both staff and visitors and one of the guides once saw a lady in Victorian dress. When he went to look for her, there was no sign of her and this was in the days before staff were dressed up for Kirkgate.

Another time, a teacher with a school party approached a guide in a very agitated and flustered state, saying there was an old woman sitting in one of the hearths, but again, she had disappeared when he got there.

A little boy in 1930′s or ’40s clothes has been seen a few times on the Military Gallery, sometimes just disappearing around the corner so you can’t quite be sure you saw him properly…

Because of all this supernatural activity, the museum has become quite famous for its spooks and this has attracted a number of ghosthunters over the years. Most famously was Derek Akorah last year, filming his Ghost Towns series, though he didn’t find anything definite. Before that, a group came in to do an overnight vigil and Dave (he of the pranks) stayed with them. He left them to their own devices for a few hours then went to check on them. When he found them, they were obviously spooked (no pun intended). They said they had been up to the old prison chapel (now the Cradle to Grave Gallery) but refused to return as there was “too much activity”! Apparently, their psychic said there was the spirit of an “Angry Vicar” in there and it was far too frightening for them to go back up. This group also photographed orbs on Kirkgate, which are apparently manifestations of spirits and we still have the photo.

Whatever the truth of all these sightings, I have yet to see or hear anything myself in the three years I’ve worked at the Castle, but I can definitely vouch for the spookiness of the buildings at times.

It’s not so bad when we’re open and busy with visitors, but when you’re all on your own, unlocking at 7am in the dark on a cold winter’s morning or last to leave in the evening, well then, it’s just you and over 300 years of history and all those long dead prison inmates.

That’s when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up…