Traces of Medieval Abbey Uncovered in Northeastern England

YORK, ENGLAND—The Yorkshire Post reports that traces of buildings that may have been part of a medieval abbey complex were discovered during work to upgrade the flood embankment at York Museum Gardens, which is located in York’s city center. The Hospitium, a fourteenth-century structure thought to have housed guests to St. Mary’s Abbey and goods delivered along the nearby River Ouse, is the only surviving structure from the medieval complex. Under a layer of Victorian artifacts, researchers from York Archaeological Trust found low walls and rubble from limestone roof and floor tiles, thought to be the remains of other monastery buildings. Project manager Ben Reeves explained that the structures may have been razed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII in the 1530s, or any time up to the 1830s, when the Hospitium was renovated and the surrounding area was landscaped as a botanical garden. The structures will be recovered and preserved, he added. To read about an illuminated copy of the four New Testament gospels that is still used at York Minster, go to "The Hidden Stories of the York Gospel."