Hungate was described in 1901 as '…one of the main slum districts of York…' in Rowntree's study of poverty in the city. The area slid into this state during the 19th century as the population of the city grew and overcrowding, poor sanitation, ill health and poverty began to take hold of a once prosperous area.

One escape from the troubles of life was to be found down the neck of a bottle and there is plenty of archaeological evidence that the inhabitants of Hungate explored this route.

Part of this slum is being excavated by York Archaeological Trust, and material collected from one area is almost entirely associated with drinking. There are literally kilos of glass bottles, stoneware porter bottles, ale bottles, flasks and flagons once used to store and serve all sorts of drinks. This collection was found not far from where the Bricklayers' Arms once stood on the corner of the now vanished Palmer Lane. The pub was in existence by 1838, applications for the renewal of licences were challenged in 1903 and 1911, but it continued in use until 1937 when the licence was finally withdrawn.

It seems likely that the material shown in the illustration came from periodic clearances from this establishment. Hugh Murray's book 'A Directory of York Pubs 1455-2003' records that the Bricklayers' Arms was described by the Chief Constable in 1902 as a 'fairly good house' and it had a club room, a smoke room, a dram shop, a kitchen and a cellar below. Between 1871 and 1915 it was famous for linnet singing competitions…

No bones of past champion linnets have been found yet, but perhaps we have discovered how their audiences passed their time while judging their performances.