The church of St Saviour has stood on this site since the
11th century. The present building dates from the 15th century,
although some earlier stonework survives.
During the Georgian and Victorian periods St
Saviourgate was one of the most fashionable streets in York
and St Saviour's was a very popular place to worship. In 1845
the church was extended to accommodate its growing congregation.
By 1901 the parish had declined and the church
bordered on one of the main slum districts of the City. St
Saviour's was eventually declared redundant in 1954, and the
medieval glass and church fitments were dispersed.
In 1975 the building was acquired by York Archaeological
Trust, who at first used it for storage of finds, then in
1990 York Archaeological Trust set up the Archaeological Resource
Centre (ARC) to complement its existing York attraction, Jorvik
Viking Centre. Over the following decade thousands of people
visited the ARC, and now DIG has opened its doors so that
visitors can continue to explore the history of York.
DIG
Tour
Hover over the plan below to see what's going
on in DIG!
‘In the field’
Discover techniques used by field archaeologists:
Reconstruct a Roman
wall decoration
Map out the finds
from the famous Coppergate dig to expose who lived
and worked where on the site a thousand years ago.
Record evidence of a medieval burial
Compare how you live with Victorian
living conditions
Labworks
Use the latest scientific techniques to understand the
mysteries of the past:
Find out how to preserve a Roman soldier's
helmet
Examine a giant core of soil
Analyse human remains
Reveal the bugs and beetles found in
a typical Victorian house
Study zone
Packed with extraordinary facts to reveal:
The meanings behind Roman symbolism
How did different writers through the
ages describe the Vikings?
How to write your own will
What you would have been doing if you
were born 100 years ago?
Ask
the archaeologist
Meet a real life archaeologist and be the first to witness
cutting edge evidence from the latest archaeological digs.
Come armed with questions to find out more.
York
Revealed
3D audiovisual show that takes you on a tour of the original
excavations and reveals what York would have looked like
in the past.
Artefacts
Artefacts from the different time periods will be displayed
for the first time at DIG. NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!
York Morph
See a street in York morph before your very eyes from
the 21st century to pre-Roman times.
